Saw-Wai Hla ended his lecture yesterday with a smile, but it wasn’t just the one on his face: He treated the audience to a picture of a smiley face he had created by rearranging atoms.
Hla, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, lectured yesterday in Baker University Center about the manipulation of atoms as part of the New Professor Lecture series. The series showcases Ohio University faculty who have recently attained professorship.
“Achieving the rank of professor is a mark of significant accomplishment,” said Howard Dewald, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “It is indicative of excellent scholarship, effective classroom instruction, service contributions to the campus and the professional community.”
Hla began his lecture, titled “Nanoscience: Playing with Atoms and Molecules,” with a brief introduction to the importance of atoms and their size. However, he wasted no time jumping into the subject matter of his debate: how his research group is manipulating atoms and the implications that can have for science.
“We can play around with such small things in a very precise manner,” Hla told his audience of about 20 OU students and faculty. “This is not just for the physics, but I’m going to talk about interdisciplinary research — what can we contribute to the community at large.”
Although the device used to image atoms, a scanning tunneling microscope, was invented in 1980s, Hla’s research uses more extensive technology.
“Now, in my group, what we are doing is the next level,” he said. “We are actually manipulating (the atoms).”
Hla showed the audience images of atoms that had been shifted around to create patterns: an IBM logo, a smiley face and the initials “OU.”
“We are partially playing, of course, but we are doing science at the next level,” he said.
Specifically, Hla discussed construction and manipulation of atoms, the manipulation of chlorophyll and proteins, and nanotechnology machines. He said that the findings of his research also could apply to microbiology and engineering.
“This is what we can contribute from our knowledge,” he said.
Hla, who came to OU in 2001, teaches all levels of physics classes. He is also a “very active researcher,” Dewald said, and has amassed about $1.8 million of external funding for his research.
Hla received the College of Arts and Science’s “Outstanding Teacher” award in 2006. He is active in the Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomenon Institute and recently began a joint appointment with Argonne National Laboratories.
bv111010@ohiou.edu
