Spending Quality Time: ASU Physics Professor Reflects On First Year

As a first-year professor, Banu Ozkan’s days have been filled with new experiences - some expected and some unexpected, but all of them just part of the growing pains that come with the job.
    In reflecting on her first year, Ozkan believes she has learned much. The biggest challenge has been making the transformation from postdoc to Principal Investigator, a process that includes setting up a research lab and managing the financial issues. During her first year, Ozkan’s group developed a new pure physics based method for protein folding called ZAM (zipping and assembly method). The protein folding problem is one of the most challenging problems in science: predicting the 3-D unique native structure of the protein among zillions of possible structures. Her group even entered a competition called CASP (Critical Assessment of Structure Prediction) where all theory groups working on protein folding participate. Ozkan considers the experience to have been very rewarding.

As for the future, Ozkan looks forward to “ASU’s ever-expanding commit-ment to the sciences. I will continue to focus on prediction and design of protein structures and modeling protein-protein, protein-ligand/drug interactions using theoretical models and computer simulations including lattice models, elastic network methods, dynamics, and all-atom physics-based computer simulations” Ozkan states and adds enthusiastically “I welcome students who are also interested in these areas!” Also on the horizon is her upcoming wedding in Istanbul this June. The engagement has been among the most unexpected events this year adding to her already full plate. “Let me just say I look forward to a time when I don’t have to balance wedding plans with everything else’ she states.
    In rounding out her first year, she has this advice for new faculty members: “Always keep the big picture in mind: do breath-taking research, be a good educator, and don’t sweat the small stuff.”
    For more information on Dr. Ozkan’s research and research group, please visit http://physics.asu.edu/faculty.php?name=sozkan.

Notes from the Chair...

As a first-year professor, This is a tremendously exciting time to be involved with physics. Physics is such a fundamental science that is at the foundation of all fields of science, engineering, and technology. Our students and faculty are advancing a broad range of themes including materials and nanoscale science, biological physics, and particle-astrophysics. All of these topics extend beyond the traditional boundaries of physics. I am excited by the opportunity to be part of a department focused on uncovering new physics in all areas of science and technology.
    On a personal note, I am happy to be have nearly completed our household transition to Tempe. Every day I walk to work from our home on 13th Street. Our household items (and my boat) have now arrived, and our home is full of boxes. Mary will be joining us in a week or so. My sons, Mark and Ross, are also looking forward to coming to Tempe and hopefully we will be able to convince them to stay. Moving has been a bigger adventure than we guessed.
    I hope you enjoy this new web-based newsletter. Our goal is to move to a monthly format that highlights the exciting advances of our faculty and students and to include the more personal perspectives, events, and challenges that mold our lives. I look forward to your contributions to its success.

Sincerely,

Robert J. Nemanich
Professor and Chair of Physics

Department Celebrates Staff at Luncheon

As a first-year professor, On April 12, 2007, Bob Nemanich and honor guests helped celebrate staff achievement and service at the Denise Jackson Annual Staff Appreciation Luncheon. The luncheon, named in honor of long-time Physics staff member Denise Jackson, is an opportunity for the Department to recognize the invaluable contributions staff members make on a daily basis toward the success of the Department of Physics. Honorees included staff members from the Physics Instructional Resource team, the IT team, and the Main Office team. A high point of the luncheon came when Dr. Nemanich relayed dozens of thank-you messages contributed by faculty and students. Special guests included members of Denise Jackson’s family, Professors Barry Ritchie and Howard Voss - both former department chairs, and representatives from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The luncheon is made possible through contributions to the Denise Jackson Fund.

Graduate Recruitment Nets Top Students

As a first-year professor, Stephanie Alvey, Graduate Program Coordinator, is reporting another extremely successful recruiting season. Twenty five students will be joining the department in Fall 2007. This outstanding graduate class all boast very high GRE scores. These new students are from all over the world including; the Czech Republic, Jordan, Turkey, India, China, and the United States. The recruitment exercise, already a long, arduous process, was made even more challenging this year with the implementation of new software at the Division of Graduate Studies. Special thanks to Stephanie for navigating through the process!

Physics Professor Wins Award for Paper

As a first-year professor, Otto Sankey has been selected for the inaugural faculty achievement award on the Most Influential Paper, Research. His theoretical approaches as noted in O.F. Sankey and D.J. Niklewski, “Ab initio multicenter tight-binding model for molecular dynamics simulations and other applications in covalent systems”, Phys. Rev. B 40, 3979-3995 (1989), were truly groundbreaking, and the advances described in that paper have been adopted by many of the most forward looking theoretical physics groups across the world.

Distinguished Lecture Series Draws Community to Physics

As a first-year professor,     Department of Physics welcomed two leading scientists as speakers for the 2006-2007 Distinguished Lecture Series. Professor Sidney Nagel, currently the Stein-Freiler Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago and member of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences, visited ASU in October 2006. Professor Paul Davies, faculty at ASU and recipient of the Templeton Prize, spoke in March 2007.
    Professor Nagel gave two talks during his visit - a public lecture entitled “Physics at the Breakfast Table” on Wednesday, October 25th and the department colloquium on “Jamming and the Low Temperature Properties of Glasses” on Thursday, October 26th. The diverse audience thoroughly enjoyed the lecture which focused on the ubiquitous phenomena of classical physics found right in front of us everyday at the breakfast table. Many of the examples Dr. Nagel discussed were brought to life in demos that were passed around the lecture hall.
    Dr. Davies also delivered two talks including a public lecture entitled “Did Life on Earth Come from Mars?” where he explored questions regarding the origin of life and whether life may have come to Earth via microbes imbedded into rocks blasted into space through cosmic impacts on Mars. This possible exchange carries with it greater implications for the question of whether we are alone in the universe. Professor Davies also delivered the department colloquium entitled “The Arrow of Time”.
    The public lectures each drew audiences of over 200 including many physics students from Desert Vista High School in Tempe. The Distinguished Lecturer Series was created to meet important objectives: to foster an appreciation of physics and physics education through community outreach and to give ASU students and faculty the opportunity to interact with world-class scientists and learn about the latest research in physics and physics-related fields. This year’s series met those objectives with resounding success.