Nobel Laureate Dan Shechtman to Give Two Lectures at McCormick
Shechtman received the 2011 Nobel in Chemistry for discovering quasicrystals
Can technological entrepreneurship improve lives in developing countries? Nobel Prize-winner Dan Shechtman believes it can. Shechtman will visit the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science in October to deliver two lectures, one of which will urge scientists and engineers to lead entrepreneurial efforts that could develop high-tech industries in struggling economies.
The Philip Tobias Distinguished Professor of Materials Science at Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Shechtman received the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of quasiperiodic crystals, a crystalline pattern that is periodic. “Quasicrystals” have a large number of applications, including the formation of steel and non-stick insulation for electrical wires.
Shechtman will speak at a McCormick Dean’s Seminar at 4 p.m. Monday, October 20 in the Allen Center’s McCormick Auditorium. In his talk “Technological Entrepreneurship—a Key to World Peace and Prosperity,” Shechtman will discuss ways to build thriving economies through entrepreneurship.
Shechtman will also deliver a more academic lecture about his research as a part of the Jerome B. Cohen Distinguished Lecture Series. “Quasi-Periodic Crystals—A Paradigm Shift in Crystallography” will take place at 4 p.m. Tuesday, October 21 in Tech LR3. A reception will follow in Tech's Willens Wing atrium.
Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, Shechtman received his bachelor’s in mechanical engineering and master’s and PhD in materials engineering from Technion. On April 8, 1982, he discovered the icosahedral phase, which opened the new field of quasiperiodic crystals. He has received 12 international and Israeli prizes, including the Wolf Prize and the Aminoff Prize. In addition to his position at Technion, he is an associate to the US Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory and a professor of materials at Iowa State University. Shechtman is a strong advocate for science education and views technological entrepreneurship as the key to world peace and prosperity.