Advanced Platform Technology Center
VA APT RESEARCHER RECEIVES NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION AWARD
Philip Feng, Ph.D., a researcher with the Advanced Platform Technology (APT) Center of Excellence at the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center (LSCVAMC) and assistant professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), has won a $500,000 award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Designated as a Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER), the funds will be used for Dr. Feng’s five-year project, entitled “Dynamically Turning 2D Semiconducting Crystals and Heterostructures for Atomically-Thin Signal Processing Devices and Systems.”
This CAREER award is the NSF’s most prestigous grant to junior faculty members. To be selected for the award, the faculty member must exemplify the role of researcher-teacher-scholar through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of the two.
Dr. Feng’s project is dedicated to understanding the device fundamentals and engineering principles of two-dimensional (2-D) semiconducting crystals and heterostructures made of stacks of various 2-D semiconductors. “Our goal is to create a foundation for developing atomically thin signal processing devices and systems with new features that may not be accessible with devices based on conventional 3-D semiconductor crystals,” says Dr. Feng. The research will advance scientific knowledge in 2-D nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS), electronics, optoelectronics, multiphysics analysis and modeling, and 2-D device fabrication.
The NSF’s mission statement requires providing community service through scientific leadership, education or community outreach. Dr. Feng’s project will generate educational materials and inspiration for K-12 to graduate students. He also plans outreach programs to broaden participation by underrepresented and disadvantaged groups.
In recent years, Feng initiated collaborations with the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Children’s Museum of Cleveland, developing innovative programs at the crossroads of science and arts, featuring the fascinating nature of nanostructures enabled by 2-D crystals and heterostructures.
His work has been highlighted in feature articles in IEEE Spectrum, the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Chemistry World, and the American Vacuum Society’s Beneath the AVS Surface.
About the APT Center: The APT Center is one of 17 designated Centers of Excellence in the Rehabilitation Research and Development (RR&D) Service of the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Established in 2005 as a collaboration between the LSCDVAMC and CWRU, the APT Center focuses on applying the most recent advancements in microelectronics, material science, microfabrication, wireless communication and mechanical design to the pressing medical needs of disabled veterans, and translating them into viable clinical options. Investigators, project staff and support specialists associated with the Center concentrate their professional effort on translational research in the areas of: Prosthetics and Orthotics, Health Monitoring and Maintenance, Neural Interfacing, and Emerging Enabling Technologies. Clinician-researchers associated with the Center include some of the “Best Doctors in America” as named by Cleveland Magazine and Best Doctors, Inc. as well as multiple recipients of prestigious Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the NIH Director’s Innovation Award, and VA Career or Senior Career Research Scientist Awards. APT Center related activities have resulted in more than 60 invention disclosures and 15 patented or patent-pending concepts and prototypes that will serve the clinical needs of veterans with sensory, motor and cognitive deficits or limb loss. For additional information about the APT Center, please follow the link: http://www.aptcenter.research.va.gov/
