24 September 2014: Kuebler-Group member selected for
UCF's Homecoming Court.
8 September 2014: The Kuebler-Group publication gets the cover of Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics!
Stephen M. Kuebler,* Ananthakrishnan Narayanan, Dale E. Karas, and Keley M. Wilburn, "Low-distortion surface functionalization of polymeric microstructures."
Macromolec. Chem. Phys. 2014, 215, 1533-1542; DOI: 10.1002/macp.201400226.
This report describes new approaches for functionalizing the surface of
polymeric microstructures that avoids swelling and other distortions that can
compromise the performance of a micro-device. Undergraduate co-authors Kaley
Wilburn and Dale Karas conducted key experiments which verified that the
surfaces had been successfully functionalized. The approach opens new routes for
micro- and nano-scale devices that can find applications in the
microelectronics, health science, advanced optics and telecommunications. The
work was featured on the journal cover.
26 August 2014: Anna Lewis (BS in Chemistry) was recognized as the winner of the August 2014
Distinguished Undergraduate Researcher Award (DURA). Her research project was Photochemical Response and Etching Behavior of Chalcogenide Films. The Distinguished Undergraduate Researcher Award is awarded each month by the
UCF Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR). The OUR selects a student from a pool of faculty-endorsed applicants based on their academic achievement, research involvement, and research accomplishments.
Congratulations Anna!
23 August 2014: Anna Lewis (BS in Chemistry) has accepted an internship with Flex Optronix, a UCF start-up company. She will be involved in the research and development of new types of micro-structured optical devices. Congratulations Anna!
7 August 2014: Hagerty High School student Aadit Vyas (third from left) and UCF Undergraduate Gerald Richardson (second from left) complete summer research with the Kuebler group and present their results. Both were co-supervised by Kuebler-Group Post-Doctoral Associate Dr. Casey Schwarz (first from right) and assisted by Chemistry graduate student Chris Grabill (first from left). Aadit was supported by the
AEOP/REAP program and Gerald was partly supported by the Office of Research and Commercialization
Undergraduate Research Initiative.
1 July 2014: Dr. Anirrudha Dutta successfully defended his dissertation on 1 July 2014 entitled "Quantitative Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy of Thick Samples of Gold and Silver Nanoparticles on Polymeric Surfaces", earning the PhD in Physics at UCF. Dr. Dutta conducted his research under the direction of Dr. Helge Heinrich, and was partly supported by NSF grant no. 0809821, "Electroless Metallization onto Polymeric Surfaces: Synthesis, Analysis, and Modeling for Achieving Controlled Nanoscale Morphologies", PI: Stephen M. Kuebler; co-PIs Helge Heinrich and Aniket Bhattacharya; 7/1/08 - 6/30/11. Congratulations Ani!.
17 June 2014: Dr. Casey Schwarz (Post-Doctoral Associate in the Kuebler Group) led a mini-workshop entitled "Women in Research: Paths to Successful Careers" with co-facilitator Dr. Sarah "Stacy" B. Barber (Associate Professor, Anthropology). Attendees reviewed important questions about careers for women in research including how to overcome barriers, how to balance a family and having a life, and various career paths. This activity was held as part of the 2014 Summer Undergraduate Research Academy (12-14 June 2014, Univ. of Central Florida).
9 June 2014: Dr. Kuebler with Vivek Kumar and his parents. In 2011, and while a student at Paul J. Hagerty High School, Vivek conducted summer research supported by an AEOP/REAP fellowship.
21 May 2014: Kuebler-Group undergraduate student Gerald Richardson (fourth from left) and other UCF undergraduate researchers meet with Florida Governer Rick Scott (fifth from left) and UCF President Dr. John Hitt (second from left). The Governer visited UCF College of Medicine for the United States Tennis Association's announcement of the new tennis center at Lake Nona.
4 Feburary 2014: Dr. Casey Schwarz presented a talk in Photonics West Conference, San Francisco on the topic "Processing and properties of Arsenic Trisulfide chalcogenide glasses for direct laser writting of 3D micro structures".
13 December 2013: Dr. Henry Williams completes the PhD in Chemistry. Congratulations, Henry!
May 2013: Tatiana's last day in NPM group
The Kuebler Group
on May 2013 with Tatiana, outside student union.
19 November 2010: NPM begins the move to a new lab!
The Kuebler research group began moving laser tables from its old lab to
a brand new location in Phase II of the Physical Sciences building. The
group expects to make the official move in December.
17 November 2010: Dr. Kuebler's group visits Jackson Middle School
For their latest outreach activity, members of the Kuebler group met at Jackson Middle School to teach science students all about waves, refraction, interference and even fiberoptics!
After about five minutes of lecture, students had the chance to witness each of these scientific concepts firsthand at six interactive stations. While
Dr. Kuebler demonstrated
the patterns of actual waves in water,
Anan Narayan and
Chris Grabill used lasers to illustrate their lessons. Meanwhile,
Kristen Lynch explained fiberoptics and how
the Internet works! At the final station,
Henry Williams demonstrated just how each of these concepts relate to the
Nanophotonic Materials Group's research.
1 November 2010: Jennefir Digaum joins the Nanophotonic Materials Group!
Jennefir Digaum received his BS in both Physics and Electrical Engineering at the Mindanao State University,
as well as the Erasmus Mundus Masters of Science from University of St. Andrews and Heriot Watt University,
Vrije University and Ghent University. He wrote his Master's thesis about a Photonics lab-on-a-chip for detecting
biomolecules, where his group developed a micro-detection unit for fluorescence and absorbance detection. He
has also worked as a failure analysis engineer at Intel. Welcome to the group!
24 October 2010: Outreach during National Chemistry Week 2010
Research students in the Kuebler group joined the ACS Orlando Section in hosting a National
Chemistry Week activities booth at the Maitland Farmers' Market that showed visitors how chemistry is
important and relevant to their everyday life. Young people learned about molecules in the air
we breathe - including the good, the bad, and the ugly! - and made edible models of these molecules
with pretzel sticks and colored marshmallows. Adults were invited to select "bags of atoms" that
contained answers to intriguing questions from the world of chemistry, including: (1) Just how small
is a molecule? (2) When salt is added to water, does the total volume increase or decrease, and why?
(3) How important is chemistry to our economy?
6 October 2010: Dr. Stephen Kuebler speaks to Orlando chapter of Café Scientifique
Dr. Stephen Kuebler met with members of
Café Scientifique to present his lecture on "Sharpening the Focus of Laser Beams for Nano-Scale Fabrication,
Imaging, and Information Storage." The group, which consists of both scientific experts and lay community members, meets at Taste Restaurant
in College Park, FL, on the first Wednesday of every month, where members listen to plain language discussions on specific topics of science or
technology.
20 August 2009: Toufic Jabbour successfully defends his PhD thesis!
Toufic Jabbour
successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled "Design, Analysis, and Optimization of Diffractive
Optical Elements under High Numerical Aperture Focusing" on 20 August 2009. He has now completed all
requirements for the doctoral degree in optics at UCF. His degree will be conferred by the President of
UCF in December 2009. He will soon depart Orlando to start a post-doctoral research position
at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Congratulations Dr. Jabbour!
August 2009: Christopher Grabill starts the PhD with our group!
Chris Grabill
was admitted to the PhD program in chemistry at UCF and is continuing his research with the Kuebler group.
Congratulations, Chris, and welcome aboard!!
May 2009: Christopher Grabill graduates from UCF with the BS in chemistry!
Chris Grabill
successfully completed all requirements for the major in chemistry and earned the BS degree from UCF.
Congratulations, Chris!!!
6 October 2008: Marco Melino leads outreach presentation at Seminole Community College
Optics PhD candidate Marco Melino introduced students at
Seminole Community College
to the fascinating world of optical metamaterials and nanophotonics, as a guest lecturer in their
Physical Sciences Seminar course. Marco's presentation was conducted as part of the Kuebler-Group
peer-to-peer education outreach effort. The encounter included hands-on demonstration of optical
diffraction from a 3D photonic crystal and shearing interferometry.
Click here
to learn more about the Kuebler-Group outreach education activities.
15 February 2008: Dr. Kuebler receives an Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award.
Dr. Kuebler was selected to receive an Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award
by the UCF College of Sciences. Click
here
to learn more about Dr. Kuebler’s teaching and outreach education activities.
January 2008: Kuebler Group awarded an NSF CAREER Grant !!
In January 2008 Dr. Stephen M. Kuebler and the NPM Group were awarded a
CAREER Grant by the
National Science Foundation.
This award (no. 0748712) is supported jointly by the
Division of Materials Research and the
Chemistry Division of the
Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate.
The award, entitled "CAREER: Three-Dimensional Multi-Scale Metallodielectric Materials", provides support
over a period of five years for the investigation of new processes for creating optically functional
three-dimensional metallo-dielectric meta-materials. All members of the NPM group helped collect the
preliminary data that supported the proposal leading to this award. Way to go team!!!
3 July 2007: Masters student Amir Tal graduates !!
On 3 July 2007 NPM Group member Amir Tal successfully defended his Masters of Science in Optics thesis entitled
"Three-Dimensional Micron-Scale Metal Photonic Crystals via Multi-Photon Direct Laser
Writing and Electroless Metal Deposition". Amir started a new position
as an optical design engineer on 13 August 2007 with
Coastal Optical Systems
in West Palm Beach, Fl. Congratulations, Amir !!!
8 May 2007: Welcome Amanda Dupuy !!
Undergraduate Amanda Dupuy is a Student Mentor Academic Research Team
(SMART)
fellowship recipient and the newest member of the NPM Group. Amanda is investigating methods
for electroless metallization and studying how the material processing conditions affect the nanoscale
morphology of the deposited metal.
8 May 2007: Welcome Marco Melino !!
In spring 2008 optics graduate student Mr. Marco Melino
joined our research group. Marco comes from Italy and most recently completed his
B.S. in Industrial Engineering and the M.S. degree in Material Engineering from the
Politecnico di Torino, Italy in 2005 under the mentorship of Professor Marco Sangermano.
From September 2006 to August 2007 he researched in the Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Department of the
Centro Ricerche Fiat S.C.p.A., Orbassano (TO) Italy,
where he completed his thesis and worked as an analyst developing manufacturing processes
for the optical and automotive industry.
Marco was admitted to the College of Optics, UCF and joined the NPM group in Spring 2008.
Welcome to the group, Marco!
2 February 2007: NPM Group member
Toufic Jabbour's research is published in Optics Letters!
Toufic Jabbour and Stephen M. Kuebler, "Axial field shaping under high-numerical-aperture focusing,"
Opt. Lett., 2006, vol. 32(5), pp. 527-530.
14 October 2006: NPM Group member
Yun-Sheng Chen presented a paper entitled "Fabrication of Three-Dimensional Micron-Scale
Metallic-Dielectric Composites and Functional Devices" at the Florida Inorganic Mini-Symposium,
hosted by the Inorganic Division of the
Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
9 October 2006: NPM Group member Amir Tal teaches students in the "Science Seminar" course at
Seminole Community College about his research in nanophotonics (9 October 2006, Maitland, FL).
29 August 2006: NPM-Group research makes cover of Advanced Functional Materials !!
Yun-Sheng Chen, Amir Tal, David B. Torrance, and Stephen M. Kuebler, "Fabrication
and characterization of three-dimensional silver-coated polymeric microstructures,"
Adv. Funct. Mater., 2006, vol. 16(13), pp. 1739 - 1744.
May 2006: Congratulations to Yigit "Ozan" Yilmaz who graduated with an MS in optics from CREOL-UCF!
Ozan is the first graduate of the NPM Group. In addition to completing
a rigorous program of course work, Ozan was very active in research. His work included
(1) contributing toward the development of the NPM-Group's multi-photon 3D microfabrication system
and (2) studying a novel microphotonic structure that can be used to efficiently guide light
by total internal reflection in a low-refractive-index waveguide supported on a high-index substrate.
Ozan is now pursuing the PhD in optics at the
University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Good luck Ozan!
26 March 2006: Dr. Stephen M. Kuebler chaired a special symposium entitled "Micro- and Nano-Scale
Patterning Via Multi-Photon Activated Processes" at the 231st National Meeting of the American Chemical
Society, held in Atlanta, GA, USA, 26-30 March 2006. Guest presenters included:
- Prof. John Fourkas (Univ. of Maryland)
- Prof. Stephen M. Kuebler (Univ. Central FL)
- Prof. Egbert Zojer (Univ. of Graz)
- Prof. Chris K. Ober (Cornell)
- Prof. Paul Campignola (Univ. of Connecticut)
- Prof. Joseph W. Perry (GA Tech)
- Mr. Jian Zhou (Perry Group, GA Tech)
- Dr. Wenting Dong (Perry Group, GA Tech)
- Prof. Satoshi Kawata (Univ. of Osaka and RIKEN)
- Prof. Martin Wegener (Univ. of Karlsruhe)
- Prof. Robert G. Denning (Univ. of Oxford)
- Ms. Stephanie A. Pruzinsky (P. V. Braun Group, UIUC)
- Prof. Shoji Maruo (Univ. of Yokohama)
- Mr. Seokwoo Jeon (J. A. Rogers Group, UIUC)
We gratefully acknowledge financial support for the symposium provided by the American Chemical Society
Petroleum Research Fund (grant no. 42322-G5) and the ACS Division of Polymeric Materials: Science
and Engineering. Thank you to these agencies and all speakers and attendees for your participation.
6 February 2006: Publication
Toufic Jabbour and Stephen M. Kuebler, "Vector diffraction analysis of high numerical aperture focused beams modified by two- and three-zone annular multi-phase plates,"
Optics Express, 2006, 14, 1033-1043.