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Michigan Technological University research team attended the biennial Army Science Conference and came back with exciting news.
Work by a MTU professor, two alumni and a member of the Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics External Advisory Board has been recognized with the international Paul A. Siple Award for the best research paper presented at the conference.
The award is the highest honor the U.S. Army bestows for research, and is given to recognize the accomplishments of Army scientists and engineers. The conference provides the perfect forum to do so, as it is a world-class science and engineering competition hosting researchers from 25 countries.
The paper was titled "Nanoscale Bioelectronics for Real-Time Target Sensing," and described the integration of biological materials with electronics to make a sensor up to three times more sensitive than current military technology.
Tech Board of Control chair Marty Richardson says the research fell under the auspices of the nanotechnology category.
'It was impressive when this paper placed top in the nanotechnology division, making it one of the 18 best papers presented at this international conference, but it went on to win the highest possible award," says Richardson.
Part of the excitement surrounding the award was certainly the level of competition at which the paper succeeded.
"Our major competition was institutions such as MIT, Cal Tech, the University of Michigan, Georgia Tech, Harvard and Princeton. This certainly demonstrates that high quality of Michigan Tech education and research is being recognized at the highest levels," Richardson says.
The authors were Tech alumnus Mark Griep, who earned a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering in 2008. He's currently employed by the Army, and the paper had its roots in some of his research at Tech. Griep's advisor while at Tech, Craig Friedrich, was co-author of the paper, and is currently the Robbins Chair Professor in sustainable design and manufacturing.
Other co-authors are Shashi Karna, a member of Tech's Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics External Advisory Board and a scientist for the Army, and Eric Winder, who earned a Ph.D. in biological sciences from Michigan Tech in 2010 and now is a fellow at the Pacific Northwest Laboratory.
Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Marty Richardson, Michigan Technological University
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