Gerard Mourou was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018 along with his former student Donna Strickland. The Nobel Prize was for developing chirped pulse amplification of femtosecond laser intensity. This led to many important applications including the all laser Lasik eye surgery, a new method to reduce space junk by using coherently combined femtosecond pulses in space, astrophysics research, particle generation and acceleration, and many new advances in radiation therapy and other medical applications. Ever since his first professorial position at the University of Rochester, he has had undergrads working for him in his lab. He talks about these early experiences and how amazing these students were. He also talks about the value of the NSF Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) programs such as the one he inspired that sends students to Paris to work on ultrafast optical science - Optics in the City of Light.

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/6hE3zZ3Waeg

You can find out more about the North American Materials Education Symposium this coming summer in Ann Arbor here:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Steve and Tim talk with Dr. Ray Decker today. Ray earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees at the U. of Michigan. He spent most of his career at International Nickel Corporation and has since started several companies as an entrepreneur. Thixomat and Nanomag are his two most recent companies. He has been very active in ASM and especially the ASM Foundation. Ray is especially interested in Materials Education and has worked tirelessly for the ASM Foundation in recent years on the teachers camp and he is on the external advisory board for the U. Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department.

ASM:
https://www.asminternational.org

ASM Foundation:
https://www.asmfoundation.org

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/c-6jRPQ7A3Q

You can find out more about the North American Materials Education Symposium this coming summer in Ann Arbor here:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

You can find the YouTube version of the Podcast here:
https://youtu.be/7uRI_rE7Nn4

We also have a condensed video version that can be found here:
https://youtu.be/b--Ddpq6w8Y

You can find out more about the North American Materials Education Symposium this coming summer in Ann Arbor here:
https://java.engin.umich.edu/NAMES24/

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).