Kirill Bolotin, assistant professor of physics at Vanderbilt University has won a Faculty Early Career Development award from the National Science Foundation.
The foundation says the CAREER awards recognize college and university junior faculty who believe in merging research with education and could turn out to be academic leaders of this century.
This commendation makes Bolotin the fourth Vanderbilt faculty member to have been conferred such an award this year. His research focuses on graphene that is a better conductor of electricity than copper. Graphene features could make it a potential replacement for silicon in electronic systems. The five-year grant helps the awardee to delve into the basic reasons that govern graphene conductivity. The conductive property of the material allows electronic parts fabricated from it to operate at high speeds, at the same time dissipating less energy.
The research will look at how materials close to the graphene surface impact the electrons flow inside it and lead to multiple graphene-based products.
A crucial component of the project will be to expose underprivileged sections of society to scientific research through The Fisk-Vanderbilt Masters-to-Ph.D. Bridge Program. The program is a collaboration between Vanderbilt and Fisk University, which is a historically black university.
Source: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/