Meet Real Scientists

Ashante' Allen - Graduate Student, Georgia Institute of Technology
Ashante C. Allen is a Ph.D. student in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology under the advisement of Dr. Samuel Graham. Her research focus is in the area of Micro-Electromechanical Systems (MEMS), where she is developing fabrication methods for flexible electronics by integrating carbon nanostructures into polymer substrates by imprint lithography. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University in May 2003. Intermittently throughout her postsecondary pursuits, she has had internship opportunities at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and Texas Instruments. Currently, she is a Ford Foundation Fellow, Gates Millennium Scholar, Georgia Institute of Technology FACES Fellow and Georgia Institute of Technology Presidential Fellow.

Don Eigler - IBM Fellow, IBM
Don Eigler is currently a IBM fellow at IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose where he builds very powerful microscopes. In 1989, Don used one of his powerful microscopes as a tool to spell out the letters "I-B-M," with individual atoms demonstrating the ability to position them with atomic-scale precision. His research group went on to construct custom molecules and even to operate an electrical switch whose only moving part is a single atom. He joined IBM in 1986 after completing his post-doctoral work at Bell Labs and getting his Ph.D. in physics at the University of California, San Diego (while surfing in his spare time).  In his free moments these days, Don enjoys classic science fiction, backpacking in the Sierra Nevada and, of course, restoring cars. He lives in the redwood-forested Santa Cruz mountains with his wife Roslyn and their two dogs.

Matt John - Musician, DJ, and Producer
German DJ and producer Matt John is one artist who has been changing the face of music. In his album "Behind the Atoms" released by Underline, he explores a new holographic way of thinking. Matt has always had an interest for music, and he believes that the sound of his music is a product of his accumulated knowledge, especially in the subjects of physics, electronics, and astronomy. His title track "Behind the Atoms" is also featured on the website of Too Small To See, a five-thousand square foot interactive exhibition that zooms into the world of nanotechnology providing a fun, interactive experience for visitors of all ages.

Nicholas Kotov - Professor at the University of Michigan
Born and raised in Moscow, Nicholas Kotov has traveled quite a bit before becoming a professor at the University of Michigan. Nicholas Kotov loves science and works on ways to correct vision problems by making nanoscale materials such as carbon nanotubes that can interact with neurons responsible for transport of visual information. He has achieved many awards and honors for his scientific work and hopes to someday give people the super power of infrared vision!

Sasha Perkins - NNIN Summer '07 REU, Undergraduate Student, University of Florida
Sasha Perkins is currently an REU student (Research Experience for Undergraduates) at the Cornell Nanoscale Facility at Cornell University for the summer. She studies material science & engineering at the University of Florida, and hopes to pursue graduate study in Biomedical Engineering and positively impact people's lives. Born in Panama, she moved to the United States about 8 years ago. She loves math and science, engineering things, and the Gators.

Daniel Soto - Graduate Student, Stanford University
Daniel Soto returned to Stanford as a Ph.D. student in the fall of 2004 in the Applied Physics Department where he is currently working with Prof. Tom Kenny studying the adhesive nanostructures on gecko feet. Over the years Dan has received several awards including the Humanities and Sciences Fellowship at Stanford University, the Distinguished Achievement Award for Academic Excellence at San Francisco State University as well as a National Merit Finalist.

Christina Zelano - Graduate Student, University of California at Berkeley
Christina Zelano is currently a graduate student in physics at University of California at Berkeley. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from University of California at Santa Cruz. Christina is originally from Falls Church, Virginia. She studies the sense of smell by looking at people’s brains while they smell things. When she's not in the lab working, she loves to hula-hoop, play fetch with her dog, go for long hikes, and rock climb. She also loves to cook because of all the different odors that appear when you cook things.