A one-day symposium celebrating physics, engineering, and innovation in honor of Kurt Becker
The Department of Applied Physics, the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and the Center for Urban Science and Progress at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering are organizing a one-day Symposium in honor of Professor Kurt H. Becker.
The Symposium reflects on his scientific contributions to physics as well as to innovation and academic entrepreneurship over several decades on the occasion of his retirement from New York University and it also commemorates his 70th birthday (a few months after the fact).
Professor Becker’s early work dealt with elucidating the role of spin-dependent interactions in electron-atom collisions. He soon developed an interest in electron-molecule collisions, particularly in the measurement and calculation of electron ionization cross sections with molecules and free radicals of technological importance. In the 1990s, he was one of the early researchers who studied microplasmas, i.e. plasmas where at least one dimension is below 1mm. His main interest was on (micro)plasmas generated and sustained at atmospheric pressure.
Together with the late Professor Erich Kunhardt, he obtained several patents for a novel design of a Capillary Plasma Electrode Discharge (CPED) plasma. These patents formed the basis of 2 startup companies in the late 1990s, one of which was acquired by Stryker Instruments. This experience shaped his ensuing interest in innovation and entrepreneurship, in exploring ways to leverage breakthroughs in fundamental science and in engineering to develop new products, devices, processes, and services in service of society. However, throughout his scientific career, Kurt’s main focal point remained the study of electron-driven and electron-initiated processes from studies under single-collision conditions to the investigation of the complex environment in high-pressure plasmas. This is also the title of a recently published Special Issue in the European Physical Journal D, on whose Editorial Board he served for 10 years, including 6 years as Editor-in-Chief, “Electron-Driven Processes from Single Collisions to High-Pressure Plasmas” (https://epjd.epj.org/component/toc/?task=topic&id=1736).
Kurt H. Becker served as the Vice Dean for Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship at NYU Tandon and he also was a Professor of Applied Physics and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering until his retirement on August 31, 2023. He is now a Professor Emeritus, yet continues to serve as principal investigator of several ongoing research grants and contracts, primarily in the area of innovation and entrepreneurship. Prior to joining NYU Tandon, he was at Stevens Institute of Technology (1997-2007) and also held faculty positions at Lehigh University (1984–1988) and at the City College of CUNY (1988–1997). He earned a Diplom in Physik (MS) degree and a Dr. rer. nat. (PhD) degree from the Universität des Saarlandes in Saarbrücken, Germany in 1978 and 1981, respectively. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the recipient of the Dr. Eduard-Martin Prize for Excellence in Research from the Universität des Saarlandes, the Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award, the SASP Erwin Schrödinger Medal, and the NY City & State Sustainability & Environmental Impact Award. He also holds an honorary Professorship at the Leopold Franzens Universität Innsbruck, Austria.
08:30 am – 09:00 am
Light continental breakfast and Welcome Remarks at 8:50 am by Stacie Bloom, NYU Vice Provost for Research and Chief Research O cer
Part 1: General Basic Science I, Chair: Gregory Gabadaze, NYU FAS
09:00 am – 09:30 am
Katepalli Sreenivasan, NYU Tandon: Turbulent Convection at Very High Rayleigh Numbers and the Weakly Nonlinear Theory (with J.J. Niemela, ICTP, Italy)
09:30 am – 10:00 am
Paul Scheier, University of Innsbruck, Austria: Multiply Charged Helium DropletsVersatile Tools for Cool Science
10:00 am – 10:30 am
Robert Johnson, University of Virginia: Electron Impact Ionization in the Icy Galilean Satellites’ Atmospheres
10:30 am – 10:45 am Co ee break
Part 2: General Basic Science II, Chair: Frank Vallese, NYU Tandon
10:45 am – 11:15 am
Maurizio Porfiri, NYU Tandon: Mechanics and Electrochemistry of Ionic Membranes: the Role of the Solvent
11:15 am – 11:45 am
Karl Schoenbach, Old Dominion University: Using Nanosecond, High-Voltage Pulses for Cancer Treatments
11:45 am – 12:15 pm
Steve Arnold, NYU Tandon: From the Death of an Icon to the Birth of the World’s Most Sensitive Photonic Biosensor
Applied Science Talk, Chair: Kurt Becker, NYU Tandon
12:15 pm – 12:45 pm
Ted Rappaport, NYU Tandon: Radio Propagation Phenomena for Mobile Communications: Promising Opportunities for Deep Learning
12:45 pm – 01:45 pm Lunch
Remarks from Myles Jackson, IAS Princeton at 01:05 pm
Part 3: Plasmas, Chair: Myles Jackson, Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), Princeton
01:45 pm – 02:15 pm
Jose Lopez, Seton Hall University: Low Temperature Plasma Technologies and Applications
02:15 pm – 02:45 pm
Klaus-Dieter Weltmann, INP Greifswald, Germany: Plasma Medicine – Knowledge and Technology Transfer FROM IDEA TO PRODUCT
02:45 pm – 03:15 pm
Holger Kersten, University Kiel, Germany: Microparticles as Plasma Probes
03:15 pm – 03:30 pm Co ee break
Part 4: Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Transatlantic Bridge, Chair: Linda Boyle, NYU Tandon
03:30 pm – 04:00 pm
Orin Herskowitz, Columbia University: Supporting Deeptech Innovations Emerging from University Research Labs
04:00 pm – 04:30 pm
Steve Kuyan, Culina Health: From Discovery to Delivery: Validating the Need for a Convergence of Engineering and Clinical Medicine
04:30 pm – 05:00 pm
Joann Halpern, Hasso Plattner Institute of New York: Science Diplomacy: Bridging Nations Through Collaboration and Global Engagement
Concluding Remarks by Tandon Dean Jelena Kovačević 05:00 pm
Cocktail Reception and Light Bu et 05:15 pm – 06:30 pm
Stacie Bloom, Vice Provost for Research and Chief Research O cer, NYU
Bloom is NYU’s Vice Provost for Research and Chief Research O cer since 2018. She works closely with NYU’s Senior Leadership and faculty to facilitate, energize, and grow the NYU's research enterprise. She leads local, national, and global research activities and guides NYU in identifying emerging future research opportunities. She is responsible for strengthening NYU’s research by promoting inter- and cross-disciplinary research; encouraging and facilitating technology transfer, business engagement, and economic development; a rming the integrity of research processes and policies; establishing collaborative research partnerships locally and globally; and participating in federal and state research-related policy making.
Stacie Bloom joined the NYU Langone Medical Center in 2011 as inaugural Executive Director for the Neuroscience Institute, where she managed strategy and operations. In 2015, she became Assistant Vice President for Policy and Administration with the objectove to align the overall strategy of NYU Langone across its basic science and clinical departments and institutes. Prior to joining NYU, Dr. Bloom was an associate editor at Nature Medicine, then Vice President and Scientific Director of The New York Academy of Sciences. She was awarded a Society for Neuroscience prize for outstanding dedication to mentorship. A prolific author and speaker, she was featured in Forbes, on SiriusXM radio, at the National Academy of Sciences, and at The Women in the World summit. She earned her PhD in cell biology from Georgetown University and her BA in Psychology from the University of Delaware.
Jelena Kovačević, Dean, NYU Tandon School of Engineering
Jelena Kovačević became Dean of NYU Tandon in August 2018. She is the first woman to lead the school since its founding in 1854. Among her many initiatives at Tandon, she spearheaded a drive to getting more women interested in technology. Tandon's freshman class is more than double the national average of women in engineering and a quarter of its faculty are women. She is also focused on investing in and growing research. As Dean, she oversees Tandon’s Research Centers and Institutes, which aim to advance research in areas such as AI/ML, 5G/6G, cyber security, and urban science and technology.
She received the Dipl. Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in 1986, and the MS and PhD degrees from Columbia University, in 1988 and 1991 respectively. From 1991-2002, she was with Bell Labs, Murray Hill, NJ. In 2003, she joined Carnegie Mellon University, where she was the Hamerschlag University Professor, Head of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Professor of Biomedical Engineering. She is a Fellow of the IEEE and EUSIPCO and coauthor of the book Wavelets and Subband Coding as well as of the books Foundations of Signal Processing and Fourier and Wavelet Signal Processing. She received the Belgrade October Prize in 1986, the E.I. Jury Award at Columbia University in 1991, and an IEEE Signal Processing Society Technical Achievement Award.
Gregory Gabadadze is the Divisional Dean for Science in the NYU School of Arts and Science, and is in addition serving as the Vice Dean for Research across Arts and Science. Greg is also the Senior Vice President for Physics in the Math and Physical Sciences Division of the Simons Foundation.
Previously, he served as the Chair of the NYU Department of Physics and as the Director of the Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics. His research focuses on theoretical particle physics, cosmology and theory of gravitation.
Frank Vallese is the Director of Strategic Partnerships at NYU Tandon, Frank works with the Tandon Leadership Team and Tandon faculty to identify and prioritize areas for research partnerships with industry, connect faculty with industry sponsors, and manage the aspects of the faculty-industry relationships at a high level. Frank also works closely with constituents in the other NYU Schools and Colleges and with external partners and agencies.
Previously, Frank was owner and CEO of Electrophysics Corp., a manufacturer of infrared and low-light imaging systems for research, industry and military applications. His company was acquired by Sofradir SAS, a world-leading manufacturer of imaging sensors based in France. Frank remained as President of the US subsidiary for 6 years. Thereafter, he mentored early-stage startups participating in NY-area accelerators, including Urban-X, Techstars IoT, ERA, TechLaunch and FutureWorks.
Frank joined NYU in 2017 as the Managing Director of the Launch Startup Acceleration Program for the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN, formerly MD5). He has also been a mentor in NYU Stern’s Endless Frontier Labs and NYU Entrepreneurial Institute’s Summer Launchpad. Frank holds a doctorate in Electrical Engineering from MIT.
Myles W. Jackson is the Albers-Schönberg Professor in the History of Science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Prior to joining the faculty at IAS, he held two inaugural endowed chairs while at New York University. He has previously taught at Caltech, the University of Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University. He received his Ph.D. in the history and philosophy of science from the University of Cambridge in 1992. He is a Fellow of the Erfurt Academy of Science (since 2009), the International Academy of the History of Science in Brussels (since 2012), the German National Academy of Sciences – Leopoldina (since 2012), and the German National Academy of Science and Engineering - Acatech (since 2022).
He was awarded the Francis Bacon Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the History of Science and Technology from Caltech, where he was the Francis Bacon Visiting Professor. His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, a Humboldt Research Prize, a senior fellowship at the Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology at MIT, a Senior Fellowship at the Max-Planck-Institute for the History of Science (Berlin), a fellowship at the Wissenschaftskolleg (Institute for Advanced Study-Berlin) and he was a Bosch Foundation Fellow of the American Academy of Berlin. He has published four books, some of which have received numerous prizes, edited two volumes and has published over 60 articles in the history, philosophy and sociology of science and technology.
Linda Ng Boyle is the Vice Dean for Research at NYU Tandon and a Professor of Civil and Urban Engineering. Prior to joining NYU Tandon, she was on the faculty at University of Washington (2009-2023) and University of Iowa (2002-2009). She has also worked at the US Department of Transportation—Volpe Center and The Boeing Company. She earned a BS (Industrial Engineering) degree from University of Bu alo and MS (Inter-Engineering/Human Factors) and PhD (Civil Engineering/Transportation) from University of Washington. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) and a Fellow of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES). She is also a member of the National Academies Board of Human Systems Integration (BOHSI). She has published 150 peer reviewed articles and is co-author of the textbook “Designing for People: An introduction to human factors engineering”.
(jointly
To provide insights into the challenging problem of turbulent convection, Jack Herring used a greatly truncated version of the complete Boussinesq equations containing only one horizontal wavenumber. In light of later observations of a robust large-scale circulation sweeping through convecting enclosures at high Rayleigh numbers, it is perhaps not an implausible point of view from which to reexamine high Rayleigh-number data. Here we compare past experimental data on convective heat transport at high Rayleigh numbers with predictions from Herring's model and, in fact, find excellent agreement. The model has only one unknown parameter compared to the two free parameters present in the lowest order least-squares power-law fit. We discuss why the underlying simplistic physical picture, meant to work at Rayleigh numbers slightly past the critical value of a few thousands, is consistent with the data, when the single free parameter in it is revised, over some eleven decades of the Rayleigh number - stretching from about a million to about 1017.
Katepalli R. Sreenivasan is a University Professor at New York University and holds the Eugene Kleiner Chair for Innovation in Engineering. He has professorial appointments in the Physics Department, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, and in the Tandon School of Engineering. He is the Principal Investigator at the Center for Space Science at NYU Abu Dhabi. He was the Dean of the NYU Tandon School of Engineering from 2013–2018. Prior to coming to NYU, he served from 2003 to 2009 as the director of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy. Earlier, he held faculty positions at Yale and at the University of Maryland.
His many honors include election to US National Academy of Sciences, the US National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Indian Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Science Academy, the Indian National Engineering Academy, the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS), and the African Academy of Sciences. He served on the Editorial Board of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Helium droplets have been demonstrated to pick up dopants from the gas phase and evaporative cooling enables experiments at temperatures below 1 K [1]. Massive doping of neutral droplets leads to the formation of nanoparticles and quantum wires which were studied after deposition with high resolution microscopy [2] and in situ via coherent X-ray di raction [3]. Recently, we discovered that large helium droplets can become highly charged [4]. The charge centers self-organize as two-dimensional Wigner crystals at the surface of the droplets and act as seeds for the growth of dopant clusters [5]. Cluster ions and charged nanoparticles of a specific size and composition can be formed by this technique with unprecedented e ciency. Dopant cluster ions can be extracted by collision induced evaporation of the host droplet [6] or by splashing of the droplet upon surface impact [7]. Both methods are suitable to form high yields of He tagged ions of both polarities which enables messenger type spectroscopy of all kinds of cold ions. The location of charge centers in multiply charged He droplets close to the surface makes them accessible for subsequent interactions with metastable He atoms which leads to Penning ionization and the formation of cold multiply-charged dopant ions.
[1] S. Albertini et al., Mass Spectrometry Reviews, 41, 529-567 (2022).
[2] E. Loginov, et al., J. Phys. Chem. A, 115, 7199-7204 (2011).
[3] L. F. Gomez et al., Science, 345, 906-909 (2014).
[4] F. Laimer, et al., Physical Review Letters, 123, 165301 (2019).
[5] A. J. Feinberg, et al., Physical Review Research, 4, L022063 (2022).
[6] L. Tiefenthaler, et al., Review of Scientific Instruments, 91, 033315 (2020).
[7] P. Martini, et al., Physical Review Letter, 127, 263401 (2021).
Paul Scheier is a Professor at the Institute for Ion Physics and Applied Physics at the Universität Innsbruck. He earned a Diplom in Physik (MS) degree and Dr. rer. nat. (PhD degree) from the Universität Innsbruck, Austria in 1986 and 1988, respectively. After his habilitation in 1994, he spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Justus Liebig Universität Giessen, Germany and the University of Hawaii at Manoa and became a full professor at the Universität Innsbruck in 2008. Since 2000 he is the ERASMUS coordinator for physics and since 2016 a member of the commission of equal opportunities at the Universität Innsbruck. Since 2019 he is also adjunct professor at the Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. He is a Fellow of the Austrian Physical Society and the Austrian Programme for Advanced Research and Technology, the recipient of the Fritz Kohlrausch Prize of the Austrian Physical Society, the science prize of the principality Liechtenstein, and the SASP Erwin Schrödinger Medal.
Electron impact ionization is a critical atomic and molecular process producing the ionospheres on many planetary bodies, and, as discussed here, is critical for interpreting spacecraft and telescopic observations of the tenuous atmosphere of the icy Galilean satellites of Jupiter (Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto) that form an interesting planetary system. Fortunately, laboratory measurements, extrapolated by theoretical models, were developed and published over a number of years by K. H. Becker and colleagues to provide accurate electron impact ionization cross sections for atoms and molecules, which are crucial to correctly interpret these measurements. Because of their relevance for the Jovian icy satellites we provide useful fits to the semi-empirical Deutsch–Märk (DM) formalism for energy-dependent electron impact ionization cross-sections of gas-phase water products (i.e., H2O, H2, O2, H, O). These are then used with measurements of the thermal plasma in the Jovian magnetosphere to produce ionization rates for comparison with solar photo-ionization rates at the icy Galilean satellites. This work was carried out in collaboration with Dr. Shane R. Carberry Mogan who received his Master’s and Ph.D. degrees from NYU Tandon and is now at the University of California in Berkeley as a Postdoctoral Scholar. Much of this work appears in the Europ. Phys. J. D (2023) (doi.org/10.1140/epjd/s10053-023-00606-8).
Robert E. Johnson was the John Lloyd Newcomb Chaired Professor at the University of Virginia and since June of 2021 is a Professor Emeritus. For most of the last 20 years he has spent the fall semester as a guest in the Physics Department at NYU. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics at Colorado College, a Master’s degree in Physics at Wesleyan University, and a PhD degree in Physics at the University of Wisconsin, all with an emphasis on atomic and molecular physics. Following his Postdoctoral work at Queen’s University in Belfast, he taught for two years in the Physics Department at Southern Illinois University. He subsequently joined the Engineering Physics Program at the University of Virginia. As part of his research at Virginia, he regularly visited Uppsala University in Sweden where he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate for his work with B.U.R. Sundqvist on the physics of the desorption of biomolecules from surfaces. His early work at Virginia, in collaboration with L.J. Lanzerotti and W.L. Brown at AT&T Bell Labs, led to his long-term research interest in the application of atomic and molecular physics to the atmosphere of solar system objects. This, in turn, led him to the work of Kurt Becker on electron impact ionization of atoms and molecules. He has written two monographs, is lead or co-author on over 350 refereed publications, and has written a large number of chapters and review papers.
Ionic polymers consist of a porous membrane that presents negative charges bonded to the polymeric backbone. A solution of positive charges permeates the membrane and neutralizes the fixed charges. These materials show promise as soft actuators for biomedical and soft robotics applications due to their unique coupling between mechanics and electrochemistry. While the literature has elucidated the fundamental underpinnings of ionic polymers’ actuation, solvent migration in the membrane has been explicitly considered only in recent models. In this talk, I will illustrate the consequences of solvent migration on ionic polymers’ actuation. I will first introduce the modeling framework, rooted in continuum mechanics and thermodynamics. Similar to previous studies on porous materials, one can impose an incompressibility constraint that help simplify the electro-chemo-mechanical coupling. Then, I will show a counterintuitive consequence of the inclusion of solvent migration. I will demonstrate that solvent can migrate in the opposite direction than the one we would predict from osmosis. This inversion of solvent migration is associated with the interplay between the migration of charges and solvent molecules and mechanical deformations of the membrane. Interestingly, the inversion can occur only for su ciently large molar volumes of the mobile charges. Overall, this work paves the way for physically accurate models of deformable ionic membranes, necessary for inverse design and optimization for applications as actuators.
Maurizio Porfiri is an Institute Professor at New York University Tandon School of Engineering, with appointments in the Center for Urban Science and Progress and the Departments of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Civil and Urban Engineering. He received M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Tech; a “Laurea” in Electrical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Sapienza University of Rome and the University of Toulon in 2001 and 2005, respectively. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). He has served in the Editorial Board of ASME Journal of Dynamics systems, Measurements and Control, ASME Journal of Vibrations and Acoustics, Flow: Applications of Fluid Mechanics, IEEE Control Systems Letters, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I, IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering, Mathematics in Engineering, and Mechatronics. He is engaged in conducting and supervising research on complex systems, with applications from mechanics to behavior science, public health, and robotics. He is the author of >400 journal publications, including papers in Nature, Nature Human Behaviour, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Physical Review Letters, and eLife. Other significant recognitions include National Science Foundation CAREER award; invitations to the Frontiers of Engineering Symposium and the Japan-America Frontiers of Engineering Symposium organized by National Academy of Engineering; invitation to the third and fourth World Laureate Forums; the ASME Gary Anderson Early Achievement Award; the ASME DSCD Young Investigator Award; the ASME C.D. Mote, Jr. Early Career Award; and the Research Excellence Award from New York University Tandon School of Engineering.
The use of high-voltage electrical pulses applied to mammalian cells has been applied to the treatment of cancer since the 1980s. Millisecond to microsecond pulses showed electroporation of cell membranes and are used for electrochemical cancer treatment or the ablation of tumors. Recently, research on electrical, nonthermal interaction with biological cells has been extended into the submicrosecond range. The interest in the interaction of nanosecond and shorter electrical pulses was based on simple electrical circuit models of cells, which predicted that such pulses would allow us to a ect not only the plasma membrane of mammalian cells but also subcellular structures. The first experimental study confirming this hypothesis was published in 2001, followed by publications which showed that nanosecond pulses a ect cell functions, such as programmed cell death, and, at lower power, calcium mobilization from intracellular structures. It was also found that nanosecond pulses still cause electroporation of the cell membrane, however, with the pores being much smaller than those generated by longer pulses. This led to novel cancer and cardiac arrhythmia treatments, and to advanced wound healing. Further reducing the pulse duration into the picosecond range may allow the replacement of metal electrodes, which are generally used for electroporation-based cancer treatments by focusing antennas. It also may extend the range of medical applications to neural stimulation.
Karl H. Schoenbach is Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Old Dominion University. He received the Diploma degree and the Dr. rer. nat. degree in physics in 1966 and 1970, respectively, from the Technical University Darmstadt (TUD), Germany. From 1970 to 1978, he worked on high pressure, nanosecond gas discharge physics at TUD. From 1979 to 1985, he held a faculty position at Texas Tech University, where he was involved in pulsed electrical power research. In 1985, he joined Old Dominion University where he served as Director of the Physical Electronics Research Institute from 1987 to 2002, and as Founding Director of the Frank Reidy Research Center for Bioelectrics from 2002 to 2008. He was named Eminent Scholar in 1989, and held the Batten Endowed Chair in Bioelectric Engineering from 2005 until his retirement in 2010. He was active in nanosecond pulsed electrical power research until 1993 and then focused on high-pressure glow discharges, particularly microdischarges, and on medical and environmental applications of nanosecond and subnanosecond, high-voltage pulses. He was elected Fellow of IEEE in 1994 for “contributions to the research and development of very-high-power electronic devices” and he received the 2000 High Voltage Award from the IEEE Dielectric and Electric Insulation Society, the 2007 Peter Haas Pulsed Power Award from the IEEE Pulsed Power Society, the inaugural Frank Reidy Bioelectrics Award in 2010 from the International Bioelectrics Consortium, and the D’Arsonval Award from the Bioelectromagnetics Society in 2017. In 2018, he received the Doctor of Science degree, honoris causa, from the Board of Visitors at Old Dominion University. He has published over 200 papers in refereed journals, and he holds 28 patents. His scientific work is cited more than 27,000 times with an h-index of 85.
The announcement (in 2002) that the death of my favorite source of knowledge and inspiration, and arguably the world’s most prolific science fact and fiction writer (Isaac Asimov, >500 books) had been from an HIV infection (contracted during open heart surgery) redirected my laboratory’s e orts to design a means for immediate detection of individual virions in blood. This e ort led to the creation of the Whispering Gallery Mode biosensor (WGM). This photonic device was born by an analog with an electronic atom (Photonic Atom), and its sensitivity is accounted for by a heuristic principle, the Reactive Sensing Principle (RSP).
This lecture will trace the evolution of the so-called Whispering Gallery Mode (WGM) Biosensor from a discovery in 1995 in my laboratory at the then Polytechnic University, and show how the addition of a nano-plasmonic epitope, has pushed its sensitivity beyond individual virions to individual cancer marker molecules, and even single atomic ions. Surprisingly, although the hybrid mode includes a plasmonic nanoshell with an intrinsic loss rate more than 5,000x that of the bare WGM, the hybrid mode produced by coupling the two has a linewidth increased by only ~10% over that of the bare WGM. This is described by a model that combines Coupled Mode Theory (CMT) and the Reactive Sensing Principle (RSP). Current e orts are directed to multiplexing this device while maintaining single molecule sensitivity.
Left: WGM nanoplasmonic resonator configuration for label-free detection of a single molecule from the shift of its hybrid mode.
Right: Detection of a thyroid cancer marker protein.
Stephen Arnold is University Professor, Thomas Potts Professor of Applied Physics, Prof. of Chemical Engineering, Associate faculty in Biomedical Engineering, and A liated faculty in Electrical Engineering at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. He is also A liate faculty with the Physics Department at the College of Arts and Sciences of NYU. His full CV can be viewed on the web page for the MicroParticle PhotoPhysics Lab (www.mp3l.org).
The mobile communications industry provides remarkable wireless connectivity to our cellphones and tablets through EM waves. Moore’s Law continues to provide computing speeds that will soon approach human computing speeds at commodity pricing in handheld devices. Concurrently, we see 5G and 6G networks moving to higher carrier frequencies and wider bandwidths to accommodate over-the-air real-time communications at the speed of human computing. The vagaries of the radio channel naturally create dropped calls, intermittent connections and outages, but the vast computing capabilities embedded in our portable devices will soon enable them, through AI and ML, to anticipate and correct the anomalies in the physical channel. This talk discusses the rapid advances in mobile computing and the viability of sub-THz communications and highlights channel characteristics and modeling approaches from below 6 GHz to the mm/sub-THz bands. Advances in modeling the spatial and temporal nature of radio channels will be discussed, incl. the impact of antenna patterns and received signal envelopes, thus o ering insights into phenomena that can be used in learning models for AI to predict signal behavior in real-world channels. Special emphasis is given to the relatively new Two-Wave with Di use Power (TWDP) distribution that encompasses Raleigh and Rician fading as special cases, and repeatable measured phenomenon of di raction e ects when a receiver encounters an object that physically begins to block a radio path. I will also reminisce how the “can-do attitude” of Kurt and other NYU administrators created a fertile research and educational environment that laid the groundwork for the success of NYU WIRELESS during the challenging times of the merger of Poly with NYU. This involved hiring a new crop of students, faculty, and creating a research and teaching environment conducive to attracting significant new industry and government funding. The genesis of the NYU WIRELESS was made possible in no small measure by embracing a new administrative and research culture that Kurt led or helped spearhead as Vice Dean at Poly and then at the newly formed NYU Tandon School of Engineering.
Ted Rappaport is the David Lee/Ernst Weber Professor and founding director of NYU WIRELESS at NYU Tandon, with appointments in the Courant CS Department and the Department of Radiology in the NYU School of Medicine. He received BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University. Earlier in his career, he founded the wireless research centers at the UT Austin (WNCG) and Virginia Tech (MPRG). His work has provided fundamental knowledge for wireless system design and radio propagation in wireless channels for the first IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi standard, the first U.S. digital TDMA and CDMA standards, the first public Wi-Fi hotspots, and proved the viability of millimeter wave, and then Terahertz frequencies for 5G, 6G, and beyond. He founded two businesses that were sold to publicly traded companies and he was an advisor to Straight Path Communications which sold 5G mm wave spectrum to Verizon. He has more than 100 patents and is a licensed Professional Engineer, a member of the Wireless Hall of Fame, the US National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the US National Academy of Inventors, and a life member of the American Radio Relay League. His amateur radio call sign is N9NB.
This presentation will give an overview of recent research and technological advances in the rapidly growing field of low-temperature plasmas (LTP) and their applications. A brief introduction will be given regarding the relevant physics of low-temperature plasmas. Areas of application of LTP-enabled technologies include environmental remediation, ozone generation, organic/biological material processes and treatment, and medicine, health, and agriculture – to name only a few.
Jose L. Lopez received a BS degree in physics from Saint Peter’s University in 2000 and his MS and PD degrees in physics from the Stevens Institute of Technology in 2003 and 2006, respectively. He returned to Saint Peter’s University as an Assistant Professor and co-founded the Department of Applied Science and Technology. He was the Founding Director of the Center for Microplasma Science & Technology, a US Congressional Designated National Center of Excellence for the study of microplasmas (2009). In 2011, he joined the Department of Physics at Seton Hall University, where he founded the Laboratory of Electrophysics and Atmospheric Plasmas. Since 2014, he has been a Visiting Professor at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. His research has led to the development of various novel plasma-assisted environmental remediation technologies, which use atmospheric and higher-pressure plasmas to clean and remove air and water contaminants. His research into ozone generation processes led to substantially increased performance and optimization of large-scale industrial ozone generators that are used in municipal water treatment facilities. More recently, he has expanded his research interests into plasmas for agriculture applications leading to discoveries of growth enhancement in botanicals. His research has been funded the Air Force O ce of Scientific Research, the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the Army Research O ce, and NASA along with industrial partners and private foundations. He authored – among other publications - the book “Complex Plasmas - Scientific Challenges and Technological Applications”. He is a recognized science communicator and has served as a science expert to various local, national, and international news organizations. He also served as the Science and Technology Correspondent to the Emmy award-winning TV series, Fresh Outlook. Dr. Lopez has received various awards and distinctions. He was honored for his contributions to the United States of America by the US Customs and Border Protection of the US Department of Homeland Security. He was recognized in 2012 by Inside Jersey of the New Jersey Star Ledger and NJ.com as one of the Top 20 Biggest Brains in New Jersey. He received the President’s Award for Student Service for his dedication to teaching and mentoring of students at Seton Hall. He also served as the General Chair for the 2017 IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science (ICOPS) in Atlantic City. He also serves as the Senior Editor of Industrial, Commercial, and Biological Applications of Plasmas for the IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science. Lastly, he directed the Plasma Physics Program at the National Science Foundation
For more than two decades, plasma medicine has been emerging worldwide as a new field of medical research at the interface between plasma physics and life sciences. In general, plasma medicine means the application of physical plasma for medical purposes. As an interdisciplinary research approach bringing together plasma physics and technology on one side and life sciences and medicine on the other side, it provided the foundation for the achievement of a sound and well-grounded scientific basis of plasma medicine, which will be further consolidated. The use of cold atmospheric-pressure plasmas (CAP) to support wound healing is already a clinical reality. This is a result of solid fundamental research and application-oriented research including technology transfer to industry.
The plasma technology allows therapeutic options especially in wound healing through e ective reduction of a variety of pathogens as well as the stimulation of tissue regeneration, but also the degradation of biological and chemical contaminants of surfaces, gases and liquids. Therapeutic application of cold atmospheric plasma in wound healing has dominated research in plasma medicine for several years. Meanwhile, other important fields of fundamental research in plasma medicine have emerged: cancer treatment, application of plasma in dentistry, endoscopy, ophthalmology, etc.
The talk will introduce the topic of plasma medicine in general with selected therapeutic applications, present certified medical devices and discuss needs & perspectives.
Klaus-Dieter Weltmann received his PhD in applied physics working on nonlinear dynamics in low temperature plasmas. In 1994, he was Visiting Scientist at West Virginia University. In 1995, he joined ABB Corporate Research Ltd., Switzerland, working in the development of switchgear. In 1998, he became the head of the High Voltage Systems Group. In 2000, he was appointed to lead the R&D unit Gas Insulated Switchgear at ABB High Voltage Technologies Ltd., Switzerland, 2002 he became Business Unit R&D Manager. Since 2003, he is Scientific Director and CEO of the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology e.V. and Professor at Greifswald University. He has made the motto "from idea to prototype" the principle of development and research at the INP and initiated five spin-o s ("from prototype to product"). Prof. Weltmann's current activities focus on life science, and bioeconomy, the development of plasma sources, subfields of the hydrogen economy, and knowledge and technology transfer. He is a visiting professor at the Institute for Invention, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIIE) at NYU Tandon and is a member of various committees and organizations.
Plasmas are valuable tools in many applications such as etching, coatings, plasma medicine, and basic research. Established diagnostic methods allow for the determination of important plasma parameters such as density, temperature, and species composition. However, the sheath region, which is only a few millimeters thick and is critical for understanding the plasma-surface interaction, has been di cult to study using macroscopic probe methods, as they themselves change the plasma environment. Recently, microparticles have emerged as useful probes for non-conventional plasma diagnostics. Due to their small size, they are well-suited for an increased spatial resolution of the discharge regions and providing additional information beyond traditional diagnostic methods. Here we give an overview of studies using microparticles as plasma probes. For instance, temperature-dependent emission of fluorescent probe particles has allowed for estimation of particle temperature and, through modeling, their energy balance in the plasma. Studies with optically trapped microparticles have demonstrated the forces acting on particles within the entire sheath of a rf plasma, all the way down to the electrode surface. By assuming a linear field increase in the space charge region, it is possible to estimate the spatial development of particle charge from the bulk towards the electrode. Even, observation and analysis of the behavior of spherical probe particles in the plasma layer of a surface barrier discharge at atmospheric pressure by high-speed camera can reveal fundamental properties of related plasma characteristics.
Holger Kersten is a Professor of Experimental Physics and the Head of the Plasma Technology research group at the Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (CAU. From 2018 to 2022, he was the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at CAU. Prior to joining CAU in 2006, he was at the Institute for Plasma Research and Technology (INP) in Greifswald (2003-2006) as head of the department for plasma process technology. Kersten earned a Diplom in Physik (MS) degree and Dr. rer. nat. (PhD degree) from the Universität Greifswald, Germany in 1986 and 1990, respectively. He is a Fellow of the German Physical Society. He was also the President of the German Society for Plasma Technology (2009-2013) and received the Ostho -Award for plasma physics in 1999. He is an Adjunct Professor at the U Kyushu in Fukuoka, Japan and a Guest Professor at Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic as well as at the Al-Faraby University Almaty, Kazakhstan. Kersten’s research is in the areas of plasma diagnostics, gas discharge physics and plasma-wall interactions. He is known for his work in non-conventional diagnostics for processing plasmas. He published more than 230 articles in refereed journals and books and over 440 conference abstracts. Holger Kersten was/is the chair of several international conferences in low-temperature plasma physics and technology (SPPT Prague, ICPIG Sapporo, PSE Erfurt among them) and was Editor-in-Chief of the European Physical Journals D and Techniques and Instrumentation.
Many of society’s most impactful products and most promising startup companies are based on deeptech innovations emerging from university research labs (for instance, Google, not to mention countless biotech, climate, and materials startups). However, the path from the lab to the market is perilous and anything but straightforward. In order to help more of the life-saving and life-improving inventions reach consumers, universities are increasingly working together to enrich their campus, local, and regional innovation ecosystems. While doing so is by no means easy, there are a number of best practices that are emerging across the country that may help emerging research institutions ensure a higher success rate for their university’s inventions.
This talk will review the many challenges faced by early-stage deeptech innovations as they cross the so-called “valley of death”; present some sample resources being employed on campuses across the country; and review a few case studies for outcomes that can be achieved.
Orin Herskowitz is the Senior VP of Applied Innovation and Industry Partnerships for Columbia University, as well as Executive Director of Columbia Technology Ventures (CTV). He also is an Adjunct Professor, teaching an Intellectual Property for Entrepreneurs course. He has served on boards or in leadership roles for a number of innovation and entrepreneurship-focused initiatives, including NYC Media Lab, PowerBridgeNY clean energy proof-of-concept center, CyberNYC, and the Columbia BioMedX accelerator; has been a peer reviewer for innovation and entrepreneurship awards for the National Science Foundation and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities; and is a frequent speaker at IP- and technology-focused events in NYC and across the country. His Federal work has included being a board member for the Center for American Entrepreneurship, a board member at Incubate Coalition (organization of life science venture capital firms), a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Renewing American Innovation project, a member of TenU (a coalition of research institutions in the U.K. and U.S.), and an appointee to the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE) with the Department of Commerce under both the Obama and Biden Administrations. He has also been helping to lead a group e ort to streamline university & venture capital’s ability to launch startups based on deep-tech innovations.
The convergence of engineering and clinical medicine holds substantial potential to significantly enhance healthcare outcomes, particularly in a healthcare system continuously seeking innovative solutions. Recently, we presented an analysis of current practices in transdisciplinary programs underscoring the necessity for bidirectional immersion between engineering and clinical medicine [1]. We identified an imbalance that creates a void in knowledge and cooperation, which should be addressed with targeted, supportive programs. As a follow-up to this paper, we will review a case study, Culina Health, a clinical nutrition company providing tangible examples of the benefits of a more integrated approach in academia for clinicians and engineers alike. In line with the proposed solutions of the paper, we review how lessons learned from the commercialization of Culina Health can help foster a collaborative culture within academic institutions. Our discussion emphasizes the urgent need to recognize the invaluable contributions that can emerge from this collaboration, despite the short-term complexities and challenges of designing such innovative programs.
[1] C. Nunziata, M. Beheshti, R. Branski, S. Kuyan, K. Becker, J-R. Rizzo, “Building Innovation Capacity and Acumen: Re-Thinking how to Converge Engineering and Clinical Medicine”, Technology and Innovation 22(3), 375-383 (2022).
Steven Kuyan is the co-founder and president of Culina Health, a startup that is creating a category of insurance reimbursed precision telenutrition, bridging the gap to the 300 million people in the US who need access to a culturally competent and clinically trained dietitian. Through a data-driven and AI-enabled care delivery platform and proprietary care delivery models, Culina Health supports patients by treating, preventing, and reversing health conditions.
Prior to Culina Health, Steven was the Director of Entrepreneurship at NYU Tandon, co-founder and Managing Director of the NYU Tandon Future Labs, and co-founder/co-director of the NYU Center for Responsible AI. The Tandon Future Labs, which were established in 2009, were the first university-based, non-equity incubator and accelerator in New York City (NYC) that supported entrepreneurs in selected technology-specific fields. Steven also taught entrepreneurship at NYU Tandon and supported a wide network of NYU initiatives. He is a co-founder of Irregular Expressions, an angel syndicate turned pre-seed and seed fund of more than 100 technical leaders. He also founded NYCai to help NYC be a leader in Artificial Intelligence through public education. Additionally, Steven is an advisor to and investor in several startups, and has spoken worldwide on entrepreneurship, incubation, ecosystem development, and artificial intelligence.
The interplay between science, foreign policy, and international relations has evolved considerably over the past century, and in today’s global arena, political e orts to employ and promote science across borders are ubiquitous. Infectious disease control, climate change, disaster management, space exploration, and artificial intelligence are just a few examples of areas in which strong relationships between nations at both the scientific and diplomatic level are critical.
The concept of science diplomacy has been incorporated into the foreign policy strategies of many countries. At its core, science diplomacy is about building relationships between nations through scientific collaboration and employing diplomatic measures to facilitate such collaboration. Science diplomacy is often divided into three areas:
Diplomacy for science – using diplomatic action to facilitate international scientific collaboration, knowledge exchange and access to scientific resources.
Science for diplomacy – utilizing science as a soft power instrument to advance diplomatic goals and inform policy decisions
Science in diplomacy - the integration of scientific knowledge, research, and expertise into diplomatic e orts to address global challenges and foster international collaboration
A fourth emerging area, Anticipatory science diplomacy, aims at a proactive approach to science diplomacy to identify emerging trends, risks, and opportunities far in advance. This talk focuses on the integration of science diplomacy into the internationalization strategy of the German Government and highlights notable achievements. Specifically, the presentation explores how the German government has recognized the significance of science diplomacy as an approach for advancing diplomatic goals and fostering transatlantic collaboration.
Joann Halpern is the Director of the Hasso Plattner Institute New York and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Applied Statistics, Social Science, and Humanities at NYU. She is also a design thinking coach and conducts Design Thinking and Designing Your Life workshops. Prior to joining HPI, she was Founding Director of the German Center for Research and Innovation, which was created as a cornerstone of the German government’s initiative to internationalize science and research. She received her BA from Dartmouth College, her MA from Harvard University, and her PhD from NYU. She has taught courses in global studies, intercultural communication, international education, business English and German in the US (Harvard, Dartmouth, NYU) and Germany (University of Magdeburg, Harz University). Dr. Halpern also co-founded Knowledge Transfer beyond Boundaries, an NGO with projects in Cameroon, Nigeria, Yemen, and Antigua. She is a recipient of the Harvard University Award for Distinction in Teaching as well as scholarships and fellowships from the Fulbright Commission, DAAD, Robert Bosch Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She serves on the advisory boards of the Technical University Dortmund, the German Center for Research and Innovation, the University Alliance Ruhr, and the Research Academy Ruhr. Her chapter on “Design Thinking and the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” was recently published in Design Thinking and Education (Springer, 2022).
SYMPOSIUM in Honor of Kurt H. Becker
of Applied Physics
of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Center for Urban Science + Progress
