News

SMART Center in the News


SMART graduate student celebrated for TECHCON 2022 presentation

Wilson Yanez, a SMART grad student under PI Nitin Samarth, and his TECHCON presentation regarding "Spin Dependent Phenomena in TaAs and NbAs Thin Films" has been invited to write a perspective article to MRS Advances.

JxCDC Special Topic on Spintronic Devices for Energy Efficient Computing

A call for papers is now open for the IEEE Journal on Exploratory Solid-State Computational Devices and Circuits special topic on “Spintronic Devices for Energy Efficient Computing." July 7: IEEE;

SMART Director Jian-Ping Wang named National Academy of Inventors Fellow

Election to NAI Fellow is the highest professional distinction accorded solely to academic inventors. This year only about 170 fellows were chosen across all fields of academic engineering and science. Dec. 15: NAI;

Prof. Kai Liu to Chair IUPAP Commission on Magnetism

Professor Kai Liu has been elected Chair of the IUPAP Commission on Magnetism, at the 30th General Assembly of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP). Nov. 15: Georgetown;

SMART's Duarte Sousa name 2021 IEEE EDS PhD fellowship winner

For the work done under the SMART/nCORE with Prof. Low and Prof. Wang, Duarte Sousa was named 2021 IEEE EDS PhD fellowship winner. Oct. 25: IEEE;

Researchers discover a key cause of energy loss in spintronic materials

SMART Center-led research discovered that the interaction between magnetism and sound particles in spintronic devices can lead to damping, or the loss of energy, a process depicted in the figure above. The finding will ultimately allow engineers to develop more efficient spintronic devices in the future. June 11: Twin CitiesCSE, EurekAlert, Newswise;

Giant anomalous Hall effect due to double-degenerate quasiflat bands

Work from SMART P.I. Tony Low will be featured by Physical Review Letters. March 10: Phys. Rev. Lett.;

2021 Sloan Fellowship recipients announced

SMART P.I. Luqiao Liu (MIT) is among the 128 early-career scholars who represent the most promising scientific researchers working today. Feb. 16: Sloan;

Conductive nature in crystal structures revealed at magnification of 10 million times

A University of Minnesota study, led by SMART P.I. Andre Mkhoyan, opens up possibilities for new transparent materials that conduct electricity. Jan. 15: UMN CSE;

Researchers are getting close to a here-and-now COVID-19 test

UMN research led by professor in electrical and computer engineering, and SMART Center Director, Jian-Ping Wang, is featured. Sept. 25: IEEE Spectrum;

Large Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction induced by chemisorbed oxygen on a ferromagnet surface

Recently, research led by SMART P.I. Kai Liu has found significant interfacial DMI induced by chemisorbed oxygen on the surface of ferromagnetic films, which can stabilize chiral domain walls and magnetic skyrmions. Aug 14: Science Advances (AAAS), Georgetown;

A better faster cheaper test for Covid-19

IEEE Fellow and SMART Center Director Jian-Ping Wang is interviewed about his research team’s innovative tool for combating the spread of the novel coronavirus. May 22: IEEE Spectrum;

Physical Review B Publishes work from SMART Center

SMART Center Principal Investigator's Tony Low and Jian-Ping Wang, as well as collabroators Wei Jiang, Huaqing Huang, Feng Liu, have been published in Physical Review B for their work on "Magnetic Weyl semimetals with diamond structure realized in spinel compounds." See the publication page on the Physical Review B website.

Physics Professor Awarded Prestigious AAAS Fellowship for Work on Nanomagnetism

November 26, 2019—The SMART Center's Dr. Kai Liu, Georgetown professor and McDevitt Chair in the Department of Physics, has been elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Liu is being recognized “for distinguished contributions to the field of nanomagnetism and spintronics, particularly for understanding of magnetic materials and nanostructures.” He is one of 27 members elected from the AAAS Section on Physics this year, which also include Nobel laureate Arthur McDonald. Liu is a SMART Center theme leader. Read the full article in the Georgetown University press release.

Prof. Jian-Ping Wang Honored with 2019 SRC Technical Excellence Award

August 22, 2019—Congratulations to Distinguished McKnight University Professor and Robert F. Hartmann Chair in Electrical Engineering, Jian-Ping Wang on being awarded the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) Technical Excellence Award for 2019. The award recognizes his “innovations and discoveries in nanomagnetics and novel materials that accelerated the production of magnetic random-access memories.” Read the full article on the Electrical and Computer Engineering website.

Seven new McKnight Presidential Fellows named

April 05, 2019—The McKnight Presidential Fellows Program is a three-year award given to the most promising individuals who have been granted both tenure and promotion to associate professor in an academic year. It recognizes recipients who are recommended by their college dean and chosen at the discretion of the executive vice president and provost based on a number of factors. SMART Center Principal Investigator Dr. Tony Low is one of seven to be selected. For more information, please visit UMN Scholars Walk.

Two CSE entrepreneurial faculty receive Innovation Awards

April 02, 2019—Two College of Science and Engineering faculty were honored by the University of Minnesota as 2019 Innovation Award winners for their groundbreaking research and entrepreneurial spirit. Receiving recognition at the 2019 Inventor Recognition Event, SMART Center Director and Principal Investigator Dr. Jian-Ping Wang was honored with the Entrepreneurial Researcher Award. For more information, please visit the College of Science and Engineering news release.

30th Magnetic Recording Conference to be held July 8-10 at the University of Minnesota

March 23, 2019—This year's conference focuses on significant new advances in magnetic storage including: Solid State Magnetic Memory and Recording Technologies for >3 Tbits/in2 and feature invited speakers from around the world. You can find out more on the 30th Magnetic Recording Conference SMART Event page.

New research center based in Minnesota to explore spintronics materials for advanced computing

November 5, 2018—The University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering announced today that it will lead and house a new $10.3 million Center for Spintronic Materials in Advanced Information Technologies (SMART) focused on novel materials for advanced computing systems over next four years. The Center for Spintronic Materials in Advanced Information Technologies (SMART) will be led by and housed at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and will include researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University, Georgetown University and the University of Maryland. For more information, please visit NIST news (Nov. 5) or the the College of Science and Engineering news release (Nov. 11).