Dear ENCOMM Affiliates,
It is now official that OSU has won its first NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC), called the Center for Emergent Materials (CEM). Winning this kind of prestigious, block-funded center is at the heart of ENCOMM's mission. This is an exceptionally competitive process and the fact that both of the IRG's emerged from the ENCOMM is strong testament to the power and efficacy of ENCOMM's approach to building the teams that can win Center funding. Particular credit and thanks go to the three IRG leaders who were on the front lines building the winning teams and shaping the crucial ideas over the two years of ENCOMM meetings and proposal preparation: Zeke Johnston-Halperin, Len Brillson (who led the OSU-funded LIRGP--Large Interdisciplinary Research Grant--that brought several of us together before ENCOMM existed), and Patrick Woodward. Nitin Padture, the Director of the new CEM, deserves our thanks for skillfully guiding us through the intricate submission process and directing the birth of the Center. Finally, and very importantly, we owe particular thanks to Steve Ringel, and the IMR (Institute for Materials Research) for his crucial support and guidance in navigating this complex process, for coming up with critical OSU matching funds for the grant and for IMR's steadfast support as we build ENCOMM's facility infrastructure.
This is only the beginning--now that we know how to do it we will start work on the next block funding opportunity. This next effort will focus on Materials for Energy and will be led by Jos Heremans who will be serving as a rotating ENCOMM Associate Director. You will hear more at our first meeting this Friday. I am excited by the opportunities that lie before us and look forward to working with all of you to take advantage of them.
Chris
P. Chris Hammel
Professor of Physics and Electrical and Computer Engineering Room 2000 Physics Research Building
191 W. Woodruff Ave.
Ohio State University
Columbus, OH 43210
phone: 614 247-6928
email: hammel@mps.ohio-state.edu
Web: http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~hammel/mainpch.html