News/Updates

September 2012

SYNTHESIS OF TALL CARPETS OF VERTICALLY ALIGNED CNTS VIA IN SITU GENERATION OF WATER VAPOR BY PREHEATING OF ADDED OXYGEN

G.D. Nessim, A. Al-Obeidi, H. Grisaru, E.S. Polsen, C.R. Oliver, T. Zimrin, A.J. Hart, D. Aurbach, C.V. Thompson. Synthesis of tall carpets of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes via in situ generation of water vapor by preheating of added oxygen. Carbon 50:4002-4009, 2012. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2012.04.043]

Dense millimeter-tall carpets of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) were grown using thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) from ethylene and hydrogen gases with two or three independently controlled hot zones while introducing controlled ?ows of oxygen. Through preheating, oxygen and hydrogen reacted through a multi-step reaction toform water, enabling the growth of tall CNT carpets. This process showed a large tolerance […]

August 2012

Elected to the MBSTP Executive Board

I’m pleased to announce that as an Microfluidics and Biomedical Sciences Training Program Fellow I will also be serving on the executive board to plan this years seminar series (student/faculty).  We will also be hosting a symposium at the end of the year for fellows and members to present their work to colleagues.

Ryan Oliver was awarded the Microfluidics and Biomedical Sciences Training Program Fellowship for 2012-2013

I was selected as one of six fellows to receive the Microfluidics and Biomedical Sciences Training Program (MBSTP) Fellowship for the academic year 2012-2013.

From the MBSTP website:

“The MBSTP is a National Institute of Health (NIH) / National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) funding training program that supports an interdisciplinary approach to graduate training that emphasizes biomedical microfluidics. The program supports 6 students each for 2 years. 45 faculty members from 20 different deparments from the College of Engineering, the College of LS&A, and the Medical School participate. Although the program only supports 6 students, all those interested are […]

July 2012

Engineering project in Kenya

The Kapsowar Hospital in Kenya provides much needed medical services for the rift valley.  Through the support of like minded individuals I was able to travel with my wife to provide engineering services to the hospital.

We delivered, installed and administered a hospital wide server and computer network in the hope it would improve patient outcome and training of nurses in the area.

I worked with an engineer there named Leilei and together we designed a way of generating oxygen to serve all the wards of the hospital.  This is needed because oxygen tanks run out quickly and delivery is sporadic and […]

May 2012

Elected to the NIMSA Executive Board

I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be participating in the Nanotechnology and Integrated Microsystems Students Association (NIMSA) at the University of Michigan as an executive board member (Education Chair 2012-2013).

 

I will be leading the organization of student seminars for the year.  We have a great set of seminars already lined up that I know you’ll enjoy including:

Mostafa Bedewy
Mohammad Olfatnia
Yuchao Yang

Update: We hosted over 40 seminars this year!

March 2012

ENGINEERING OF MICRO- AND NANOSTRUCTURED SURFACES WITH ANISOTROPIC GEOMETRIES AND PROPERTIES

S. Tawfick, M. De Volder, D. Copic, S. Park, E.S. Polsen, C.R. Oliver, M.J. Roberts, A.J. Hart. Engineering of micro- and nanostructured surfaces with anisotropic geometries and properties. Advanced Materials. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adma.201103796]

Widespread approaches to fabricate surfaces with robust micro- and nanostructured topographies have been stimulated by opportunities to enhance interface performance by combining physical and chemical effects. In particular, arrays of asymmetric surface features, such as arrays of grooves, inclined pillars, and helical protrusions, have been shown to impart unique anisotropy in properties including wetting, adhesion, thermal and/or electrical conductivity, optical activity, and capability to direct cell growth. These properties are of wide […]

November 2011

Elected Executive Committee Member of the University of Michigan Graduate Symposium

This year we will be organizing a broader graduate symposium with interdisciplinary topics covered.  This is meant to address emerging areas in nano and micro-manufacturing.

From the website:

“The Engineering Graduate Symposium is a college-wide event focusing on doctoral and master’s programs and graduate student research. This program is open to all College of Engineering current undergraduate and graduate students as well as prospective graduate engineering students from other institutions. The day-long program features the following opportunities for students:

Poster presentations
Departmental visitations
Admissions and funding workshops
Networking with graduate students
Featured speakers”

Materials Research Society poster presentation 2011: “Robofurnace: An automated CVD system for reduced CNT growth variation and high-throughput experimentation.”

I attended the Materials Research Society conference in Boston this year.  This conference is one of the largest in the country with thousands of attendees.  The society according to their website:

“The Materials Research Society (MRS) was established in 1973 by a visionary group of scientists who shared the belief that their professional interests were broader in scope than existing single-discipline societies and that a new interdisciplinary organization was needed. Today MRS is a growing, vibrant member-driven organization of over 16,000 materials researchers from academia, industry, and government, and a recognized leader in the advancement of interdisciplinary materials research. Headquartered in Warrendale, Pennsylvania […]

August 2010

Awarded a Departmental Fellowship at the University of Michigan by the Mechanical Engineering Department

Ryan Oliver received the Mechanical Engineering Departmental Fellowship for the academic year 2010-2011.  This fellowship was awarded to support research during the first two years doctoral research at the institution.  With this support I joined the Mechanosynthesis lab under professor John Hart to study micro/nano manufacturing.

July 2009

Feature write up in UTA Research Magazine

The following is a reproduction of a feature article in the UTA Research Magazine.

FULL TEXT

Student Profile: Ryan Oliver
Student’s work could recharge the world’s fuel supply
Ryan Oliver relaxes in his chair, answering questions and providinginformation in a casual manner. He doesn’t come across as a dynamic
achiever. But that’s exactly what he is.

Oliver recently received his master’s degree in industrial engineering from
UT Arlington a year after graduating summa cum laude with his bachelor’s degree. As a graduate student, he worked with professors John Priest in industrial engineering and Brian Dennis in mechanical engineering to develop a microreactor that converts cottonseed and similar agricultural products into […]