Juggling a dual appointment between UT and Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a welcome challenge for Dr. David Mandrus, the physics department's newest collaborating scientist. He joined UT last January and now divides his time between campus and the ORNL Solid State Division. Dr. Mandrus said one benefit of his UT appointment is the opportunity to work more closely with students. A second is the college environment. "The atmosphere at a university is more scholarly," he said. "I like that-I enjoy academia." His research involves the growth and initial characterization of novel transition metal oxides in hopes of discovering new materials that are scientifically important. He is interested in their electronic properties, phase transitions, and other collective phenomena. With the recent announcement of the Tennessee Advanced Materials Laboratory, his work fits well into the University's research landscape. His new laboratory in the Science and Engineering Research Facility was funded by the University's Scholarly Activity/Research Incentive Fund and is another asset to UT's growing materials science program. "There are very few facilities like this in the country," Dr. Mandrus said. Similar labs are located at Florida State, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Rutgers, and Ames Laboratory. "We are in good company," he said. Dr. Mandrus' lab will grow single crystals, which are crucial in neutron scattering research. The atoms in a crystal fall into a repetitive pattern called the crystalline lattice, which can have a significant influence on the material's properties. For example, both graphite and diamond crystals contain only one kind of atom: carbon. The difference lies in how the atoms are arranged. Because neutron scattering sheds light on the arrangement, motion, and interaction of atoms in materials, single crystals play a key role in the experiments' success. Dr. Mandrus described the scientists who make materials as "sort of like the front line in football. You can't win without them, but they often don't get a lot of attention." However, he has noticed that materials people exert a profound influence on the direction of research around the country. "People who make the materials often set the agenda," he said. Dr. Mandrus studied materials with a master of the art, Dr. Zach Fisk, who is now at Florida State University. After finishing his Ph.D. at SUNY-Stony Brook in 1992, Dr. Mandrus went to Los Alamos National Laboratory to work with Dr. Fisk as a post-doc. He came to Oak Ridge in 1995 and joined the UT-ORNL Collaborating Scientist Program in January 2000. This program, sponsored by the Science Alliance, allows researchers to hold joint appointments at the national laboratory and the University, strengthening the research program at both institutions. There are currently five collaborating scientists in the physics department: Dr. Ted Barnes, Dr. David Dean, Dr. Adolfo Eguiluz, Dr. Mandrus, and Dr. Kenneth Read. Dr. Mandrus said his position grew out of his work with Distinguished Scientist Ward Plummer, in which he provided materials for Dr. Plummer's work with the scanning tunneling microscope. His research role in neutron scattering was another factor. When he has a spare moment between his two labs, Dr. Mandrus enjoys spending time with his family, including his seven-year-old daughter, Nora, and his wife, Dr. Veerle Keppens, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Mississippi. She also works with the National Center for Physical Acoustics. Cross Sections, Fall 2000 Issue, Contents Page UT Physics News & Notes Page UT Physics Home Page This page was last updated on January 5, 2001. Please send comments to cal@utk.edu.