This year, we were lucky the MCEC school was a live event again! Although the event was originally planned in Apeldoorn, last-minute changes caused a change in location, and we all enjoyed the nice countryside of Zwolle. 

During this week, we could enjoy very nice and diverse lectures related to chemical and physical science, statistics, machine learning and data visualization. In between there was enough time to catch up or learn to know the new members.

The PhD teaches PhD session illustrated nicely how we can relatively easily learn from each other, and it also revealed that together we have a high knowledge density in complex chemistry and physics.

Two social activities, a pubquiz and karaoke on Monday evening and sport event on Wednesday afternoon, were organized by the C-team and showed the competitive sides of each and every one. Concluding, this week showed that the MCEC community is diverse, inspiring and fun, which perfectly reflects how we visualize modern science.

Text: Jim de Ruiter (UU)
Photos: Anne-Eva Nieuwelink

MCEC member Ward van der Stam (UU) starred in an episode of ‘Glotcast’, a podcast series with open conversations between scientists, students, inhabitants, and organizations in the city of Utrecht that take place at AKWAGLOT in the Utrecht Singel. Hosts Marij Swinkels and Vincent Tijseling discover how the chemical decomposition of CO2 is one of the best methods to reduce the carbon footprint of our society. Dr. Ward van der Stam explains the MCEC Demonstrator unit and talks to people who are passing by.

Listen here:

The purpose of the MCEC Lecture Series is to show our PhD candidates what the possibilities are after completing their PhD.

On Thursday September 23, 11:00 AM our guest will be Dr. Dr. Pablo Peñas 

A short introduction:
My name is Pablo Peñas and I am a Postdoc at the Physics of Fluids Group at UT. My research for the last seven years has revolved around the topic of gas bubbles and mass transfer. Since I am still in my final year as an MCEC member, the concept of “Life after MCEC” strictly does not apply to me. Nonetheless, in my talk I will mainly cover some of my academic experiences, especially those concerning MCEC and other MCEC members. In fact, my first encounter with MCEC dates back to August 2015. As you may imagine, much has happened since then!

Behind the scenes, our MCEC Demonstrator Teams have been working thoroughly on their projects. To give you a glimpse of what waits ahead, we visited each team this summer to get a better understanding of their project, their goals and expectations.

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Beyond Mechanical Recycling: Giving New Life to Plastic Waste

Dr. Ina Vollmer, Michael J. F. Jenks, Dr. Mark C. P. Roelands, Dr. Robin J. White, Dr. Toon van Harmelen, Dr. Paul de Wild, Dr. Gerard P. van der Laan, Dr. Florian Meirer, Prof. Jos T. F. Keurentjes, Prof. Bert M. Weckhuysen

A wafer-scale fabrication method for threedimensional plasmonic hollow nanopillars

D. Jonker (UT), Z. Jafari, J. P. Winczewski, C. Eyovge, J. W. Berenschot,
N. R. Tas, J. G. E. Gardeniers, I. De Leon and A. Susarrey-Arce

MCEC PhD Dirk Jonker‘ (UT) publication reports on the fabrication and modification of a top-down nanofabrication platform for enormous parallel silicon nanowire-based devices. In they paper the authors explain the nanowire formation in detail, using an additive hybrid lithography step, optimising a reactive ion etching recipe for obtaining smooth and vertical nanowires under a hybrid mask, and embedding the nanowire in a dielectric membrane.

See the publication

There’s a new MCEC Powerpoint design available on the MCEC Website.

Although Freddy Rabouw (UU) is a MCEC tenure track assistant professor and works on various MCEC projects in different roles, this was the first time that he supervised a PhD project from beginning to end. The MCEC Office was curious to know more about his experience!

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Beyond the ensemble; Excited-state dynamics unveiled by single-nanoparticle spectroscopy

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Blue and ultraviolet sunlight are highly energetic. Current technologies to harvest sunlight cannot use this energy efficiently. “Quantum cutting”, the conversion of blue and ultraviolet light into infrared, can change this. Freddy’s project ‘Science: Quantum cutting sunlight with Yb3+-doped perovskite’ will develop strategies for more efficient quantum cutting, which will inspire new technologies for sustainable energy production.

Last year, Rabouw received the Heineken Young Scientists Award in the category Natural Sciences from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), for his research on new materials to generate light, for example for solar cells or display screens.

Many congratulations Freddy!