WARRENDALE, PA—The Materials Research Society has named Hongjie Dai, professor of chemistry at Stanford University, to receive the Mid-Career Researcher Award "for seminal contributions to carbon- based nanoscience and applications in nanoelectronics, renewable energy, and biological systems." Dai will be recognized at the 2016 MRS Spring Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, on Wednesday, March 30, where he will receive his Award and present his award talk, Carbon-Based Nanosciences.
The MRS Mid-Career Researcher Award, endowed by Aldrich Materials Science, recognizes exceptional achievements in materials research made by mid-career professionals.
Dai pioneered the controlled growth of carbon nanotubes using metal-catalyzed chemical vapor deposition, showing for the first time that high-quality single-walled nanotubes could be synthesized using a method that enables control over the growth process. He used his knowledge of nanotube growth to demonstrate hierarchical organization over multiple length scales. Dai also exploited this unique control over nanotube growth to uncover basic electronic properties of metallic and semiconducting nanotubes.
In the past decade, Dai and his group have defined the fundamental limits of nanotube transistors and, in doing so, have raised the level of awareness of nanomaterials to some of the largest semiconductor companies. He pioneered the use of nanotubes as intracellular molecular transporters for biological molecules and cancer drugs, demonstrating that key spectroscopic properties unique to nanotubes and other carbon nanostructures make them ideal for biological detection, fluorescence imaging in the second near-infrared window, drug delivery, and cancer therapy via in vivo photothermal tumor destruction.
Dai is the J.G. Jackson and C.J. Wood Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University. He earned his PhD degree in applied physics/physical chemistry from Harvard University. He is the Honorary Chair Professor of the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and serves on the editorial boards of eight publications. Dai has written more than 250 papers and is ranked as one of the most cited chemists (in materials chemistry) by Thomson Reuters.
About the Materials Research Society
MRS is an organization of over 13,000 materials researchers from academia, industry and government worldwide, and a recognized leader in promoting the advancement of interdisciplinary materials research and technology to improve the quality of life. MRS members are students and professionals hailing from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and engineering—the full spectrum of materials research. Headquartered in Warrendale, Pennsylvania (USA), MRS membership now spans 90 countries, with approximately 45 percent of members residing outside the United States.
MRS serves and engages members across generations to advance their careers and promote materials research and innovation. The Society produces high-quality meetings and publications, assuring that members of all career stages can present and publish their most important and timely work to an international and interdisciplinary audience. MRS continues to expand its professional development portfolio, as well as promote diversity and inclusion in the scientific workforce, with career services for researchers worldwide. The Society advocates for the importance of scientific research and innovation to policymakers and the community. And the MRS Awards program honors those whose work has already had a major impact in the field, as well as those whose work shows great promise for future leadership.
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