ELECTROSTATICS NEWSLETTER
July/August 2002 No.163
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
In keeping with ESA tradition, the July/August President’s message is devoted to a summary of the June meeting for those who may not have been able to attend. Here goes:
This year’s ESA Annual Conference was held jointly with the Institute of Electrostatics Japan from June 25-28 at Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois. Over 70 attendees heard presentations grouped into five sessions. The unusually broad variety of topics on a host of subjects served as a continual reminder that “electrostatics is everywhere”. A detailed list of all papers follows later in this newsletter, so I will offer a brief synopsis here.
The first session on Wednesday saw a large number of papers on electrostatics in biology and biotechnology. As this field represents one of the new frontiers of electrostatics, we were pleased that the number of papers in this area continues to increase every year. Topics included a paper on electrostatics at the nanoscale cellular level, the electrostatics of microtubules and DNA, the electrostatics of aerosol drug delivery, the simulation of electrostatics in biological molecules, and the use of the principles of genetic evolution to solve for electrostatic fields via the charge simulation method. One paper involved a study of elastic membrane stability applicable to MEMS devices
The second session on electrostatic charging and particles included numerous papers on tribo- and contact-charging, xerographic toner, electrostatic effects in pharmaceutical powders, the generation of monodisperse aerosols, and plasma treatment of particles. One paper reported on the results of a triboelectric device for robotic missions on Mars.
The third session, held all day Thursday, comprised a potpourri of papers on electrostatic processes. Topics included electrostatic coating of liquids in the food industry, the effects of plasma curing on the electrostatic properties of polymers, electrostatic cleaning of particles from coal-fired power plants, electrostatic removal of water vapor from air, removal of heavy metals from contaminated soil, a review of the new technology behind two types of electric paper displays, and even the effects of electrostatic coating of seasoning on the taste of potato chips. Other papers in the session included a method for operating MEMS devices in the charge control mode, a discussion of coupling in optical waveguides, and the problems associated with electrostatic charging and the transport of FOUPs in the semiconductor industry. (You’ll have to guess what a “FOUP” is; answer next newsletter.)
During the fourth session, devoted primarily to instrumentation and measurement, included papers on charge measurement in pharmaceutical aerosols, static charge neutralization, new methods for electrostatic field mill technology, corrosion resistance of thin films, and a grand theoretical formulation that nice explained the difference between ohmic and non-ohmic charge dissipation.
There were two fascinating papers of note in the Friday session. The first,
by our own ESA archivist Ann Benninghoff, detailed the life and times of Nellie
Fletcher, the first ESA teacher of the year. Her story was one of true dedication
to teaching and preparing young minds for careers in science. The second paper
was presented by Bob Morse, an invited teacher from Washington, DC. Bob spoke
about and demonstrated his “Dime Store” electrostatics laboratory which he uses
to teach students hands on about the fundamentals of electrostatics. His talk
demonstrated that a good teacher -- one who can draw excitement and leap tall
buildings in a single bound – need not have loads of expensive equipment. Or,
in the words of a famous America movie dialog, “When times were tough, Sonia
learned to make wonderful dishes from snow!” (A special prize to the first
person who can e-mail me with the name of the movie in which that line appears.)
In any event, very nice job, Bob.
As he has done so many years in the past, Glenn Schmeig, our own Maestro of the Magnificent, wowed us after the banquet with thought provoking demonstrations of standing waves in bowls and the paradox of s-l-o-w light bulbs that seemingly violate the speed of light. Most well received, of course, was the disclosure of his newest invention, the all-PVC, ether-propelled, marshmallow launcher. Thanks, Glenn, for keeping Kraft Marshmallows in business.
The banquet included out annual awards ceremony. At this time, we inducted Emery Miller, former ESA Secretary/Treasurer, President, and lifeblood of the organization, into the Electrostatics Hall of Fame, Part III, at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia for his seminal work in bringing electrostatic spraying form theory to practice. The Distinguished Service Award went to Tim Erin who has served steadfastly as our Secretary/Treasurer for the past five years.
We were pleased to host several new invitees this year who gave papers for the first time, including new members John Huber, Jack Tuszinski, Carlos Calle, Bruce Easom, and Bob Morse. We also were glad see the continuing attendance of several recent ESA members, including John Gagliardi, John Pelesko, Sheryl Barringer, Larry Levit, and Marty Kashef. If I’ve left anyone out is this paragraph, it’s because of my memory and not due to a lack of enthusiasm from the ESA.
On behalf of the ESA, I’d also like to extend our collective thanks to our IEJ colleagues who made the l-o-n-g trip all the way from Japan to Chicago. It’s always great to hear from you and learn about what is going on electrostatically in Japan. We hope that many ESA members will be able to attend our next joint meeting in Japan in Fall 2004.
A Round of Thanks (and even the President can make a goof!)
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank once again those individuals who worked especially hard to make the 2002 Conference a success. Without the tireless efforts of the Local Arrangements Chair, Ghaffar Kazkaz from ITW Tech, and the Technical Program Chair, Mark Zaretsky from Eastman Kodak, the conference simply could not have taken place. Both put in extraordinary hours, sent countless emails, and made numerous phone calls to handle all the behind the scenes details of the conference. Many thanks also to our Session Chairs Steve Cooper, Carlos Calle, Kelley Robinson, and Bob Gundlach.
I also want to issue a special thank you that I should have made at the conference. Like most attendees, I received a copy of the proceedings and simply assumed that this meticulously prepared publication would appear at registration time, just as it has since we began having proceedings eight years ago. In taking the Proceedings for granted, I failed to recognize and properly thank two individuals, Joe and Barbara Crowley, who manage every year to collect a hodge-podge of manuscripts and transform them into a library-quality archival publication. A somewhat belated but very well deserved thanks to them both, with my apologies for not including them in the thank-you list at the conference banquet. Even the President can make a goof!
After five years on the job, Tim Erin will be stepping down as Secretary/Treasurer, to be replaced by Steve Cooper beginning this July. Many thanks to Tim for his very hard work (Tim received the Distinguished Service Award; see above), and best of luck to Steve for a smooth transition as he begins his duties in this important position.
After some unknown number of years (only he can tell us how many), our beloved Bill Smart will be stepping down as Newsletter Editor. Bill has done an unbelievable job of producing this publication issue after issue with scheduled precision. A simple thank you is totally insufficient for Bill, but it will have to do for the time being. Many thanks to Bill for devotion beyond the call of duty. At the same time, I am pleased to announce that Mark Zaretsky has volunteered to be our next Newsletter Editor, and you should see his handiwork in the next issue.
That’s it for this issue! In the next Newsletter: Is Electrostatics a Summer or a Winter Sport?
For the Friendly Society,
Mark N. Horenstein
ESA President
For the past 17 years (99 issues) I have had the honor of being your Editor. It was an enjoyable and rewarding activity. But it was time for someone else to take over – a younger, energetic person with plenty of new ideas and boundless energy. Mark Zaretsky certainly qualifies. We’re very fortunate indeed to have him as our new Editor. He’ll do a great job and, for accepting the position, I extend my warmest thanks to Mark .
During my tour of duty as your Editor you were most tolerant of my efforts and the limited abilities I brought to the job. For that I also extend my sincere thanks to you.