What’s Happening in Phases Research Lab at Penn State
July 10, 2008	Manjeera Mantina successfully defended her PhD thesis on “First-principles Methodology for Diffusion Coefficients in Pure Metals and Dilute Alloys”
June 23, 2008	James Saal receives the NASA Space Grant Fellowship for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 academic years from the Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium.
June 2, 2008	Laura Jean Lucca receives the ASM International Philadelphia Liberty Bell Chapter Scholarship and the Charles W. Finkl Fund Scholarship.
April 27, 2008	Yan (Anne) Ling and Laura Jean Lucca are elected to the 2007/2008 Undergraduate Research Fellows in the department, http://www.matse.psu.edu/UG/cur/ugCur.htm (scroll to the bottom), http://www.phases.psu.edu/gallery/album03/2008_URFs
April 26, 2008	Zi-Kui Liu receives the Wilson Award for Excellence in Research, College of Earth and Mineral Science, Pennsylvania State University. http://www.ems.psu.edu/research/Research/wilsonresearch.htm, http://www.matse.psu.edu/news/stories/Wilson%20Awards%202008.html, http://www.matse.psu.edu/news/docs/2008%20Wilson%20Program.pdf
April 26, 2008	Laura Jean Lucca receives the Charles and Sharon Bell Scholarship for Citizen and Leadership Award, a University wide award at Penn State.
April 14, 2008	Manjeera Mantina led our first paper accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters: LC11234: First principles calculations of self-diffusion coefficients. Vol. 100, 2008, 215901, http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.215901
April 13, 2008	Soon Il Lee received The American Ceramic Society Spriggs Phase Equilibria Award for the paper “Modified Phase Diagram for the Barium Oxide-Titanium Dioxide System for the Ferroelectric Barium Titanate” published in the Journal of The American Ceramic Society 90 [8] 2589-2594 (2007). http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1551-2916.2007.01794.x
April 12, 2008	First Phases Research Lab Retreat at Toftrees, http://www.phases.psu.edu/gallery/album57
April 11, 2008	Matt Benzio joined Rolls Royce Energy Systems in Mt. Vernon, OH. The facility manufactures and packages power turbines and compressors for natural gas pipelines. Matt worked for his BS in our lab in 2004. We wish him good luck in the new position.
April 11, 2008	Hui Zhang successfully passed her comprehensive exam today.
April 3, 2008	Jingxian Zhang received the Academic Excellence Award of the Intercollege Graduate Program in MatSE.
March 28, 2008	Zi-Kui Liu visited Raymundo Arroyave at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas A & M University. Raymundo was with us from April 2004 to July 2006.
March 17, 2008	Hui Zhang received the Kennametal Fellow award, http://www.matse.psu.edu/news/stories/Kennametal%202008.html
March 14, 2008	Following alumni were at the TMS meeting: Raymundo Arroyave, Chao Jiang, Tao Wang, Jingxian Zhang, Shengjun Zhang, along with Yi Wang and Swetha Ganeshan from Penn State, http://www.phases.psu.edu/gallery/album56
March 12, 2008	Zi-Kui Liu became a member of the TMS Board of Directors, http://www.tms.org/Society/government/board/Liu.html
March 7, 2008	Dong Eung Kim successfully passed the Candidacy Exam.
March 1, 2008	Zi-Kui Liu is elected as a Chang Jiang Chair Professor of Central South University by China Ministry of Education, http://www.cksp.edu.cn/news/6/6-20080220-218.htm, http://www.matse.psu.edu/news/stories/Chang%20Jiang%20Chair.html
February 10, 2008	Shunli Shang received the Rustum and Della Roy Innovation in Materials Research Award (http://www.gradsch.psu.edu/current/funding/programs/roymatres/roymatresrecipients.cfm)