Jasti Receives NSF CAREER Award
Prof. Ramesh Jasti has received a 5-year Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The prestigious CAREER awards support junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations.
Prof. Jasti’s proposed research will result in the development of new methods and strategies for the synthesis of well-defined polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) belts. These PAH belts are short fragments of carbon nanotubes. The syntheses of these smaller systems will provide foundational methodology studies that could ultimately enable the bottom-up-synthesis of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Carbon nanotubes are of interest for numerous applications, including new solar energy materials, components for faster electronics, and single molecule biosensors. The synthesis of CNTs with well-defined, homogenous structures will facilitate the development of new nanotechnologies, and as a result, is expected to impact a variety of scientific disciplines including physics, engineering, and materials scientists. Prof. Jasti’s outreach program is aimed at introducing the interdisciplinary nature of nanoscience to high school students. This program will entail a series of nanoscience workshops, to be organized in conjunction with the Steppingstone Foundation and the Upward Bound Math and Science Program.
Prof. Jasti started his appointment as an Asst. Prof. at Boston University in 2009. He has rapidly established a synthetic organic chemistry group focused on the synthesis of graphitic carbon nanostructures. He first became interested in this research as a post-doctoral researcher with Carolyn Bertozzi at the Molecular Foundry (at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), and has quickly emerged as a leader in the synthesis of strained PAH belts.