People

Professor Paul Hansma received his B.A. from New College, Sarasota, FL, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. He came to the UCSB Physics Department in 1972 as an Assistant Professor, became an Associate Professor in 1976, and attained full professorship in 1980. He won the distinguished Biological Physics Prize in 2000 from the American Physical Society. More information is available from the UCSB Physics website (www.physics.ucsb.edu).

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» Phone: 805.893.2523
» Email: prasant@physics.ucsb.edu

Connor Randall is a graduate of UCSB's Mechanical Engineering program. He has worked in the Hansma Lab for over a year, recently becoming Lab Manager. His primary focus involves research and development of the Reference Point Indentation instrument.

» Email: connor_randall@umail.ucsb.edu

Dan Bridges is a staff member, and UCSB Physics graduate, working part time in the Hansma Lab. His main focuses are on research and development of the Reference Point Indentation instrument and website maintenance.

» Email: bridges@physics.ucsb.edu

Philipp Thurner is a postdoctoral fellow in the Hansma Lab. He received his masters degree in Physics from the Graz University of Technology, Austria and his PhD in Natural Sciences from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich) in Zürich, Switzerland. He was awarded a fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) for his stay at the Hansma Lab. His research interest is currently focused on the molecular mechanisms making bone a stable and tough material.

» Phone: 805.893.3999
» Email: thurner@physics.ucsb.edu

Georg Fantner is a graduate student working toward his Ph.D. in physics here at UCSB. He received his masters degree in Physics from the Technical University in Graz, Austria. Currently, he is working on bio-ceramics (primarily bone) and development of fast-scanning AFM equipment

» Phone: 805.893.3999
» Email: fantner@physics.ucsb.edu

Alex Lau Graduated from UCSB in 2008 with a degree in Computer science. He is currently working at Yardi systems. He also works as the Systems Administrator for the Hansma Lab.

» Email: alau@physics.ucsb.edu

Haykaz Mkrtchyan is an undergraduate student working towards his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering. He is currently working to find ways to eliminate non-linearity of springs and LVDTs in the device used for experiments as well as designing centering mechanisms for the probe.

» Email: haykazm@gmail.com

Phillip Mathews is a graduate from UCSB with a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering and has been working with the Hansma Research Group for over a year. Phillip is currently the Director of Research Relations for Active Life Technologies and has worked in several technology fields from semi-conductors to materials. He obtained a Technology Entrepreneurship Certificate from UCSB’s Technology Management Program and continues to pursue high technology business ventures. Phillip was also a member of UCSB’s division I Men’s Volleyball team and a founding father of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity.

» Phone: 805.893.3999

» Email: pmathews@umail.ucsb.edu

Alexander Proctor received a B.S. in Physics from the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) in September 2007. He is currently the Cofounder and Director of Technology for Active Life Technologies, the company developing the Reference Point Indentation instrument. Throughout his education at UCSB, Alexander has worked in several technology related areas of business and education including web design, electrical engineering, and various physics laboratory applications. In addition, Alex participated in the Technology Management Program (TMP) at UCSB and received, along with Davis Brimer, the award for "The Most Fundable Idea," and "Alumni Choice" in the 2007 New Venture Competition. Alexander also received the Technology Entrepreneurship Certificate in June 2007..

» Email: alexandermproctor@gmail.com

Xianwei Zhou is a PHD candidate in Nankai.Univ, China. He is currently visiting Hansma's lab. His main research interests included nonlinearity of piezo-tubes and control as well as feedback loop control in the Z-axis of an AFM.

» Phone: 805.893.3999

» Email: zhouxwnk@gmail.com