-By David Murphy
Jose Efrain Perez, a Ph.D. student based in the University's Sensing, Magnetism and Microsystems Laboratory, won the Magnetism as Art Showcase People's Choice Award at the 62nd Annual Conference on Magnetism and Magnetic Materials (MMM) 2017 for his artwork entitled "Magnetic Nanobeacon." Efrain Perez, who is supervised by Professor Jurgen Kosel, won the award at the MMM's annual showcase which was held in Pittsburgh from November 6 to 10, 2017. His colleague Zahra Albu presented and accepted the award on his behalf.
Of his win, Efrain Perez said,"I felt surprised to be selected as a winner. While I thought that my picture was good, it was also only one of many exciting entries presented."
Efrain Perez's winning artwork represents magnetic nanowires embedded in a nanoporous template.
"Part of the template was dissolved in order to reveal the nanowires; however, due to air drying, the nanowires collapsed and formed 'beacon' structures in the process," he explained.