SPIE awards scholarship to Stevens doctoral candidate

HOBOKEN , N.J. — The Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) has awarded a scholarship to Ms. Yun Han, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science (CEMS) at Stevens Institute of Technology.

Han joined Stevens in September 2005 to pursue her doctoral thesis research in the area of integration of nanotechnology with photonic crystal fiber (PCF) for sensing applications, under the supervision of Professor Henry Du of CEMS and Professor Svetlana Sukhishvili of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.

Han’s research deals specifically with imparting surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) functionality into PCF to develop SERS-active PCF sensing platform. It encompasses nanoparticle (silver and gold) synthesis and characterization using laser spectroscopy and electron microscopy techniques, molecular-level surface functionalization of the nanoparticles of controlled surface chemical functionality and charge state, immobilization of SERS-active nanoparticles in the PCF air channels, optical and SERS measurements of PCF platform in the presence of environmental pollutants (such as CN - and ClO 4 -) and explosives (such as TNT and RDX) in aqueous solutions.

The ultimate goal of Han’s research is to develop a fundamental understanding of the strategies and processes developed for ultra-trace chemical sensing and identification using SERS-active PCF platform. She has authored 3 peer-reviewed papers and delivered 3 presentations at technical conferences.

About the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers

SPIE is the world’s largest international not-for-profit society in the fields of optics, photonics, and imaging with 17,000 individual members including 3,800 students. To date, SPIE has distributed over $3 million in scholarships and grants to those working and learning in 84 countries. SPIE strongly believes in the opportunities and personal enrichment that education provides and in the need for increased scientific and technical literacy. The Society is committed to the upcoming generations of scientists and engineers who will develop the potential of optics and photonics.

For more information on SPIE’s scholarship program, visit www.spie.org/scholarships

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,040 undergraduate and 3,085 graduate students, and a worldwide online enrollment of 2,250, with a full-time tenured/tenure-track faculty of 140 and more than 200 full-time special faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.  

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