Robert W. Carpick has been appointed Penn Director of the Nanotechnology Institute. Carpick is an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics and holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.  Carpick replaces former Penn faculty member David Luzzi, founding investigator of the Institute and now dean of engineering at Northeastern University. Carpick will serve as principal investigator and coordinate Penn's engagement with the Nanotechnology Institute going forward, according to vice provost for research Steven J. Fluharty and Penn Engineering Dean Eduardo Glandt.  

The Nanotechnology Institute is a regional academic research and technology commercialization collaboration made possible by support from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  The Institute was founded in 2001 by Penn, Drexel and the Benjamin Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

"Dean Glandt and I are greatly pleased that we were able to recruit Rob Carpick for the post of Penn Director," Fluharty said.  "Rob has a highly relevant academic background for the position, working at the intersection of mechanics, materials, and physics to conduct research into nanotribology and nanostructured materials. Rob is very involved with Penn investigators engaged in nanotechnology-related research projects and programs and is a natural fit to help lead the Nanotechnology Institute on the Universitys behalf. We look forward to working with him and our partner institutions as a new agenda for the Institute begins to unfold."

Carpick received his undergraduate degree in physics from the University of Toronto in 1991, and his MA and PhD in physics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1997. He currently serves on the Editorial Board of the journal Tribology Letters and serves as a Board Member of the Solid Lubricants Division of the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers. Carpick was the recipient of a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation in 2001, and was named Outstanding New Mechanics Educator by the American Society for Engineering Education in 2003. Carpick is the author of over 50 peer-reviewed publications and principal investigator for 4 submitted patents.