3 topics; half a page up to a page maximum on each topic (Total of 2 pages or 2 and half pages for the whole assignment).

Topic No. 1

Effects of Nanomaterials on Blood Brain Barrier

The professor will talk about the brain engineering and the interactions that nanomaterials have with brain in general and blood brain barrier in particular.

Additionally, the talk will focus on presenting the pros and cons of nanomaterials in nanomedicine and consumer products.

The topics covered will include the interactions of engineered nanomaterials with brain and various other biological systems.

Topic No. 2

Green and sustainable chemistry: Role of catalysis in attaining a sustainable civilization

In this talk an overview of green and sustainable chemistry will be presented. Few examples, such as greening of lead based products and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) will be discussed. As an effort towards green chemistry we are developing novel metal complex catalysts which can perform environmentally benign oxidation chemistry, use renewable resources (carbon dioxide, CO₂) to synthesize value added chemical products, replace expensive platinum catalysts with non-precious metal catalysts, and detect various molecules.

Topic No. 3

New Devices and Applications for the Sub-Terahertz and Terahertz Bands

John L. Volakis

The Ohio State University

The terahertz band (0.3 -10 THz) is associated with several attractive applications, including spectroscopic identification, security, non-destructive imaging and wideband proximity wireless communications.  However, exploitation of the terahertz band is still at its infancy.  This is due to the lack of portable sources, transceivers and low cost portable imaging devices. Recently, Ohio State acquired several sub-terahertz and terahertz equipment for signal generation, spectroscopy, imaging, testing and evaluation of components and systems. In this presentation, we will review several new developments in terahertz as relates to sources, communications, and imaging. Unique equipment set-ups will be presented along with demonstrations that exploit the potential of terahertz for near-zone communications, imaging and security.