Unilever Award Goes to Strano; 2008 Nominations open

Michael S. Strano, recently named Charles & Hilda Roddey Career Development Professor in Chemical Engineering at MIT, is the winner of the 2007 Unilever Award for Outstanding Young Investigator in Colloid & Surfactant Science. Strano was previously an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

The Unilever Award is presented annually by the ACS Colloid & Surface Chemistry Division to recognize and encourage fundamental work in surface or colloid chemistry carried out in North America by researchers in the early stages of their career. The prize consists of $3,000, a plaque, and $1,000 for travel expenses to the meeting where the award is presented.

Strano's research focuses on synthesis, characterization, and separation of carbon nanotubes for their ultimate assembly into systems and devices for specific applications. He delivered a talk, "Understanding and Exploiting the Surface Chemistry of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes," at the 81st Colloid & Surface Science Symposium in June at the University of Delaware.

The division is accepting nominations for the 2008 award. Nominees who are within seven years of having received a Ph.D. are eligible. Special consideration is given to the originality and creativity of the work and to its potential impact.

Nominations should include a nomination letter, three supporting letters, the nominee's curriculum vitae with a complete list of publications, and reprints of up to five papers that demonstrate the nominee's excellence in publication of his or her research work. The nomination letter should contain a 25-word citation describing the nominee's specific achievements.

Packets should be sent electronically, preferably as a single PDF file, to Darsh T. Wasan at wasan@iit.edu. The deadline for receipt of nominations is Feb. 1, 2008.