Jim Smay Receives the 2004 Victor K. LaMer Award from the American Chemical Society

 Annually, the Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry of the American Chemical Society selects the outstanding PhD Thesis for the year.  All PhD candidates from chemistry, materials science, chemical engineering, physics, biochemistry, etc. programs, from US and Canadian Schools, who completed research in colloids or surface chemistry, are eligible for this US$2,500 award.  Selection is based on originality, significance, and quality of the work, as well as clearly visible contribution of the student independent of the professor, and promise of the student as a future investigator.  Jim Smay, recently hired as an OSU ChE assistant professor, won the thirty-fifth annual LaMer Award.

 In part, the letter reads:

 “Dear Jim,

”On behalf of the LaMer Award Selection Committee, it is my pleasure to inform you that you have selected as this year's winner of the Victor K. LaMer Award.  Congratulations!  Your thesis was really an outstanding piece of work and was a pleasure to read.

”The award will be presented at the annual ACS Colloids and Surface Science Symposium, which will be held June 20 - 23 at Yale University.  The ACS Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry will cover all of your expenses associated with attending the event.  It is also the tradition of this Symposium to have the LaMer award winner present a seminar of their work as one of the plenary lectures.  This year's LaMer lecture is scheduled for Wed, June 23 (one hour will be allowed for the talk and award presentation -- the talks typically last about 45 minutes).”

”Professor John Y. Walz,
Chairman, LaMer Award Selection Committee
Chairman, Department of Chemical Engineering
Yale University”

 

When some of our students heard the news, their comment was, “As a reward he has to make a 45-minute presentation!? Was second place the real winner?”

 Jim's research focuses on utilizing colloidal materials, microscopic particles suspended in water, to fabricate three dimensional structures that are impossible to make by traditional machining.  First, the particle water mixture is formulated into a toothpaste like consistency called a colloidal gel.  This gel is then extruded from a hypodermic needle affixed to a positioning robot to draw fine lines in a designed pattern.  By controlling the flow properties of the gel, Jim is able to assemble three dimensional structures one layer at a time.  After the drawing step is accomplished, the water evaporates and the particles are fused together at high temperature to harden the structure.  In addition to the ability to build geometrically complex objects, this technique allows one to customize the chemistry of the colloidal particles as well as blend different gels for spatial grading of composition.  This forming technology has already found application for sensors, advanced ceramic devices, and artificial bone scaffolds.  Jim's current efforts are focused on applying this technique for improved dental crowns and soft tissue engineering scaffolds.

 How do the particles flow through the small needle without clogging? How does the liquid flow through the needle, but then become a solid that holds the desired structure? What is the most efficient way to “draw” 3-D structures? Understanding these problems of fluid dynamics, colloid suspension properties, and computer control are part of Jim’s contribution to engineering.

 Visit http://membership.acs.org/C/Coll/LaMer.html to read more about the award.

 Jim received his BS in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from OSU in 1996.  He earned his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2002 and performed much of his experimental work at Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Jim’s engineering of the chemical aspects of micro particles in fluids and his materials science background were part of his attraction to us when we were searching for a new professor to complement the skills of the present faculty. In addition, his dedication to excellence in teaching and research, and his vision for independent contribution to the development of technology for the benefit of human welfare made him a “right fit” to our program.

 Dr. Smay presently teaches the Engineering Science course Materials Science to all OSU engineering students, and co-teaches the chemical engineering unit operations lab. His research is presently supporting 4 graduate students and one undergraduate.

 Former LaMer Award winners are from Wisconsin, MIT, Stanford, Carnegie-Mellon, California, Texas, Delaware, Princeton, Harvard, and other top ranked schools in the country. Joining OSU, they are certainly in good company.