Ivan Smalyukh
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Ivan I. Smalyukh is a physicist working in soft condensed matter physics, especially in the domain of liquid crystals. He is a professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder and director of the International Institute for Sustainability with Knotted Chiral Meta Matter with headquarters at Hiroshima University.[1] In 2009, Smalyukh was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. He and his research group hold the Guinness record for achieving the highest visible-range optical transparency in a material [1]
Biography[edit]
Smalyukh began his academic journey at Lviv Polytechnic National University in Ukraine, where he completed his Bachelor's and Master of Science degrees in 1994 and 1995, respectively. Furthering his education, he obtained his PhD in Chemical Physics from Kent State University in 2003.[2]
Following his PhD, Smalyukh held postdoctoral positions at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Liquid Crystal Institute and AlphaMicron Inc. Between 2004 and 2006, he also worked as a Visiting Scientist at the Institute for Lasers, Photonics, & Biophotonics at SUNY at Buffalo.
In 2007, Smalyukh joined the Department of Physics and Liquid Crystal Materials Research Center at the University of Colorado, Boulder, as a Tenure Track Assistant Professor.[3] By 2014, he was an Associate Professor with tenure in the same department. In 2017, he became a tenured full Professor in the Department of Physics. Additionally, Smalyukh holds a courtesy appointment in the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Recently, he began his role as Director for the International Institute for Sustainability with Knotted Chiral Meta Matter (SKCM2),[4] hosted by Hiroshima University in Japan.[1]
Throughout his career, Smalyukh has received several awards, including the Early Career Award for Soft Matter Research of the American Physical Society in 2016,[2] Langmuir Lectureship Award of the American Chemical Society in 2021,[5] and the ICMS Distinguished Scholar award from the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems at Eindhoven University of Technology in The Netherlands in 2022.
Smalyukh has also been actively involved in the scientific community. He has organized and participated in conferences and workshops, such as the 2019 Gordon Research Conference on Liquid Crystals at the University of New England and the Kickoff Symposium on Knotted Chiral Meta Matter in Hiroshima, Japan, in 2023. He has also been a member of editorial boards for several international journals. He is an elected fellow of several international societies, including American Physical Society (APS) [2], Optica [3] and SPIE [4].
Research[edit]
Smalyukh's scientific interests span various aspects of soft condensed matter and optical physics.[6] This includes the study of laser trapping and imaging techniques, molecular and colloidal self-assembly, and the fundamental properties of materials such as liquid crystals,[7][8] polymers, and nano-structured substances. Additionally, the photonic and electro-optic applications of these materials are his group's research interests.
Specifically, Smalyukh has studied vortex knots and solitons[9][10] and knots[11][12][13] in liquid crystals, contributing to new methods to form microscopic knots in physical fields.
Smalyukh used cellulose nanofibres to develop a transparent and highly thermally insulating aerogel. This work was published in Nature Energy due to the material's potential to enhance the heat lost through windows.[14][15]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI)".
- ^ a b "2016 Early Career Award for Soft Matter Research Recipient".
- ^ "Soft Matter Physics Smalyukh Research Group".
- ^ "SKCM2: Organization and Administration".
- ^ "2021 Langmuir Lectureship Award Winners Announced". 14 July 2021.
- ^ Meng, Cuiling; Wu, Jin-Sheng; Smalyukh, Ivan I. (2023). "Topological steering of light by nematic vortices and analogy to cosmic strings". Nature Materials. 22 (1): 64–72. Bibcode:2023NatMa..22...64M. doi:10.1038/s41563-022-01414-y. PMID 36456872. S2CID 254150516.
- ^ "Liquid crystal research, future applications advance".
- ^ Zhao, Hanqing; Tai, Jung-Shen B.; Wu, Jin-Sheng; Smalyukh, Ivan I. (2023). "Liquid crystal defect structures with Möbius strip topology". Nature Physics. 19 (3): 451–459. Bibcode:2023NatPh..19..451Z. doi:10.1038/s41567-022-01851-1. S2CID 255896584.
- ^ "Never-before-seen topological solitons experimentally realized in liquid crystals". Phys.org.
- ^ Poy, Guilhem; Hess, Andrew J.; Seracuse, Andrew J.; Paul, Michael; Žumer, Slobodan; Smalyukh, Ivan I. (2022). "Interaction and co-assembly of optical and topological solitons" (PDF). Nature Photonics. 16 (6): 454. Bibcode:2022NaPho..16..454P. doi:10.1038/s41566-022-01002-1. S2CID 249222780.
- ^ "How to Tie Microscopic Knots Within Liquid Crystals". scitechdaily.
- ^ "3D knots appear in liquid crystals". Physics World.
- ^ "A strange new type of crystal is made of fluid tied into knots". New Scientist.
- ^ Wilkins, Alex. "Windows filled with see-through wood layer help hold in heat". NewScientist.
- ^ Abraham, Eldho; Cherpak, Vladyslav; Senyuk, Bohdan; Ten Hove, Jan Bart; Lee, Taewoo; Liu, Qingkun; Smalyukh, Ivan I. (2023). "Highly transparent silanized cellulose aerogels for boosting energy efficiency of glazing in buildings". Nature Energy. 8 (4): 381–396. Bibcode:2023NatEn...8..381A. doi:10.1038/s41560-023-01226-7. S2CID 257588403.