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

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

Georg Schitter is Assistant Professor at Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, and he is a permanent guest in the Paul Hansma Research Group. Georg's main research interests are on next generation AFMs with focus on mechatronics and control engineering, including model-based control, high-bandwidth piezo-positioning, finite element analysis and computer aided design, systems automation, cantilever dynamics, and testing the new instruments on challenging AFM applications.

» Email: g.schitter@tudelft.nl

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 and their role in bone diseases impairing stability, i.e. osteoporosis.

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

Patricia J. Turner is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego. She has 8 years of experience working in the field of Marine Biology at Scripps Institution of Oceanography where she studied fauna from Hydrothermal Vents. She spent 2 years with the Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species at the San Diego Zoo researching the effects of stress on Alligators. Patricia has participated in several other projects ranging from investigations into RNA from nitrogen fixers in marine environments to maintaining chemostats for the culture and study of marine diatoms at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

» Email: pati@physics.ucsb.edu

Alex Lau is an undergrad at UCSB working towards a degree in computer science. Alex is the systems administrator for the Hansma Lab and maintains this website.

» 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 fifth year Mechanical Engineering undergraduate student involved with the SEA, BEA, ASME, and am working with to obtain my TEC certificate through the TMP program here at UCSB. I first became involved with the BDI project during the winter of 2007 and began working in the lab in July 2007. I am from Hillsborough, CA and play for the Men’s Volleyball team for UCSB. I am also a founding father of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity here on campus; which was started during the spring of 2004.

» 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 Bone Diagnostic 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