Colorado State University Invites Community to Distinguished Women in Science Lecture Series

Colorado State University welcomes Fort Collins and campus communities to the Distinguished Women in Science and Engineering Lecture series. Renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Mildred S. Dresselhaus kicks off the series with the talk, "Perspectives on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology," from 4-5:30 p.m. Feb. 19 in the Yates Hall auditorium. The presentation will be followed by a reception.

Dresselhaus will also lead "Expanding the Opportunities for Women in Science and Engineering," a mentoring talk geared toward college and high school students, from 1-2:30 p.m. Feb. 20 in Room A101 of the Microbiology Building. Both presentations are free and open to the public.

The Distinguished Women in Science and Engineering Lecture series is designed to celebrate and recognize extraordinary achievements by women scientists, to provide mentoring for young women and encourage them to consider science and engineering as a profession. The series, which will feature a nationally recognized speaker each spring and fall, is co-sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Information Technology and the Colleges of Engineering, Agricultural Sciences, Natural Resources, Natural Sciences, Veterinarian Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and the National Science Foundation Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Science and Technology at Colorado State.

"The goals of the series are to take a positive and proactive approach to mentoring young women and introducing the opportunities and possibilities available to them in their educational and professional careers," said electrical and computer engineering professor Carmen Menoni who, along with chemistry professor Nancy Levinger, conceived the event. "We are very pleased and fortunate to have world-renowned researcher Mildred Dresselhaus kick off the series."

Dresselhaus will discuss a new phase in nanoscience research and describe research accomplishments and opportunities at the nanoscale. Nanoscience and nanotechnology involve studying and working with matter on an ultra-small scale. The technology stretches across the whole spectrum of science and touches medicine, physics, engineering and chemistry.  

Nanoscience research is entering a new, exciting phase where the structure and properties of materials can be investigated, characterized and controlled at the nanoscale. In her talk, special emphasis will be given to nanowires and nanotubes because their unusual properties have attracted interest for applications in novel electronics, optical, magnetic and thermoelectric devices. Examples of research accomplishments and opportunities at the nanoscale will be described with a view toward new interdisciplinary research programs now under development in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology worldwide.  

Dresselhaus joined the MIT faculty in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 1967 and the Department of Physics in 1983, and was named institute professor at MIT in 1985. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the American Philosophical Society. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Physical Society, the IEEE, the American Carbon Society, the Society of Women Engineers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She is also a foreign member of the Japanese Academy of Engineering and a corresponding member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.  

Dresselhaus has served as president of the American Physical Society, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and treasurer of the National Academy of Sciences. She has served on numerous advisory committees and councils, reflecting her interest in science policy and presently serves as chair of the Governing Board of the American Institute of Physics.  

Dresselhaus is co-author of three books on carbon science and has received numerous awards, including the National Medal of Science and 19 honorary doctorates worldwide.

For more information about the Distinguished Women in Science and Engineering Lecture series at Colorado State, call (970) 491-1090 or visit the Web at www.colostate.edu.

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