Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Dr. Rebecca C. Quardokus, PhD

This is for all of you who are wondering about our lovely daughter, Becky, and her work at Notre Dame. She is currently doing post-doctoral research with a Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM---for you theological types, this is not the S.T.M. which stands for Sacrae Theologiae Magister  [Master of Sacred Theology]). It is a low-temperature ultra-high-vacuum instrument that allows her to image molecules and atoms.


You can see the STM in the background. 

Her research is in the area of molecularly based electronic devices. (If you think your computer is small and fast now, wait until Becky gets done--it will be amazing(ly) fast!!!  Her most recent paper (“Self-assembly of hydrogen-bonded two-dimensional quasicrystals,”) will be in the March 6, 2014 edition of Nature!!!  Woot-woot!

You can find the exact reference and her other publications on her website http://www3.nd.edu/~rquardok/Welcome.html

If you know Becky, you also know that besides being a scientist and musician, she also loves art.  Here is a picture of what some of her research looks like.


Aren't those little molecules pretty?

She has also published articles in:
  •  Journal of Chemical Education
  • Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics
  • The Journal of Physical Chemistry
  • Journal of the American Chemical Society
Here are more STM images.


The image on the right has calculated models superimposed on the STM image.


Becky and her Buckyball model!

Of course as a father, I am justly proud of my brilliant and creative scientist daughters.  In an up coming post I'll tell you about Kathy and her PhD work. (She's a Meteorologist and Science Educator).


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