Fall 2007

Faculty Research in the News
Georgia Tech researchers' work is covered in the news media.

Georgia Tech was one of three universities contributing to a report published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on the connection between climate change and social impacts such as warfare, population decline and famine. Co-authored by Peter Brecke in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, the study used a database of 4,500 wars to study the effects of temperature fluctuations during a 500-year period from 1400 to 1900. More than 80 news outlets worldwide published accounts of the report, including ABC News, the Christian Science Monitor, LiveScience.com, MSNBC, New Scientist, The New York Times, USA Today and The Washington Post. A Reuters news agency report on the study appeared in numerous publications throughout Asia and Australia. (See this article in this issue of Research Horizons).

photo by Gary Meek High-performance field-effect transistors have been produced with thin films of Carbon 60.

High-performance field-effect transistors produced with thin films of Carbon 60 attracted attention in major media covering the electronics industry. The work, led by Bernard Kippelen in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, represents another step toward the practical application of large-area, low-cost electronic circuits on flexible organic substrates. Two dozen media outlets reported on the work, including Defense News, Electronic Engineering Times, Electronics Weekly, Semiconductor International, and Solid State Technology. (See this article in this issue of Research Horizons).

Research that could allow very high speed wireless downloads over short distances generated media coverage in more than 60 news outlets around the world. This “multi-gigabit wireless” approach could eliminate the tangle of wires running between computers and such peripherals as external drives, and could facilitate quick downloads of movies from commercial kiosks. An Associated Press article on the work was published by a number of major U.S. newspapers. Reporting on the research were the Boston Herald, BusinessWeek, The Chicago Tribune, CNN, Forbes, Fox News, The Los Angeles Times, Network World, Newsday, the San Francisco Chronicle, Technology Review, USA Today and The Washington Post. Joy Laskar and Stephane Pinel from the Georgia Electronic Design Center were quoted and pictured in the articles. (See this article at http://gtresearchnews.gatech.edu/newsrelease/multi-gigabit.htm).

An improved technique for creating films of barium titanate nanoparticles in a polymer matrix generated considerable attention for researcher Joseph Perry in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics. The material has been of interest for use in capacitors, but creating uniform films has been a major stumbling block.

photo by Gary Meek A new DARPA-funded center will seek to develop CAD systems, based on physical models, that can predict MEMS behavior.

Development of a technique that addresses that issue was reported in the journal Advanced Materials. Media outlets including EDN, Electronic Engineering Times, Electronics Weekly, The Engineer, Science News and Power Design reported on the new technique. The visibility led an Associated Press reporter to contact Perry about a Texas startup firm that plans to create a new generation of capacitors. Perry’s comments appeared in more than 50 major media outlets, including BusinessWeek, CNN, LiveScience.com, IEEE Spectrum, USA Today and Wired. (See the article at http://www.gtresearchnews.gatech.edu/newsrelease/barium-titanate.htm).

IndustryWeek and the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported on a new DARPA-funded research center that will develop computer-aided design techniques for micro-electromechanical and nano-electromechanical systems. The center, which includes both universities and companies, will seek to develop CAD systems that are based on physical models able to predict the behavior of these tiny devices. (See the article http://gtresearchnews.gatech.edu/newsrelease/mems-cad.htm).

Two National Institutes of Health grants totaling $11.5 million for research on delivering the flu vaccine with microneedles generated attention for Georgia Tech and Emory University, which are partnering on the research project. Use of microneedles could make administering the vaccine painless and more convenient. Reporting on the work were CNN, the Atlanta Business Chronicle, WMAZ-TV (Macon) and several other news outlets. Mark Prausnitz, a professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, was interviewed. (See the article at http://gtresearchnews.gatech.edu/newsrelease/microneedles-flu.htm).


Contents    Research Horizons    GT Research News    GTRI    Georgia Tech

Send questions and comments regarding these pages to webadmin@edi.gatech.edu
Last updated: April 22, 2008