Movers & Shakers overs & Shakers
LATI UDE
LATITUDE
extract oil, increasing the efficiency and reducing the environmental impact of bitumen recovery. E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowships are awarded to outstanding university faculty members whose original research is earning a solid international reputation. Receiving $250,000 over two years to support their research, fellows take a leave from teaching and administrative duties to focus exclusively on their research. Along with the base amount, the fellowship typically includes compensation each year to the university, meaning the fellow can continue to draw a salary. THE SCIENCE OF MOTION Dr. Hongbo Zeng, P.Eng., studies the movers and shakers of the world. And that’s molecules we’re talking about, not his successful professional peers. -photo by Martin Lipman/NSERC
U OF A PROF GETS BIG BOOST TO SOLVE MOLECULAR MYSTERIES School may be out, but one University of Alberta professor has a major reason to stay in town for the summer. Hongbo Zeng, P.Eng., PhD , has received an E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship worth $250,000 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), which will support his research into molecular surfaces. Dr. Zeng studies the surfaces of polymer materials, fluids, and natural resources at, you guessed it, the molecular level. He then uses the information he’s assembled to find ways to build better materials and improve the performance of the technologies we use for natural resources. For example, Dr. Zeng once determined how marine mussel proteins adhere to surfaces in sea water. Using his discovery, he developed self-healing materials capable of gluing themselves back together—underwater. Pliable shapes, such as air bubbles and liquid drops, are snagging Dr. Zeng’s attention, these days. By studying how they move across surfaces, Dr. Zeng hopes to improve the processes we use to
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