Nehal Ali Erfan Abdelwahab has completed her Master’s degree in Chemical engineering department at Minia university, Egypt. She spent two years working for her PhD in the National research center in Cairo and now she is completing her PhD study in Biomedical engineering department at East Carolina University, Greenville, USA.

In the present study soft ferrimagnetic glass ceramic nanoparticles (MNPs) were prepared by high energy mechanical ball milling utilizing a planetary ball mill. Various MNPs samples were produced by changing the milling time from 1h to 5h, in the constant milling speed of 1200 rpm. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) linked with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were performed to explain the characteristics of primary (unmilled) and milled samples and to confirm the presence of the nanoparticles. Using high energy planetary ball milling technique we succeeded to obtain uniform spherical shaped nanoparticles with 10 nm particle size and a very narrow particle size distribution.

Luke Harmon is a student at Ohio Northern University, currently a senior pursuing a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering with an Applied Mathematics minor. Ohio Northern is a top ranked accredited college, ranking 2nd in the 2016 edition of Best Colleges in the Midwest Region. This senior capstone project is focused on the research of the shape memory alloys and how it can be used for practical purposes.

The human hand is a very complex and crucial structure of everyday life and any minor alteration can easily result in serious functionality problems. Any patient who is relearning the functionality of his or her hand after damage, whether it be some kind of surgery or neurological problem, often needs assistance. Modern hand therapy strategies exist, and are utilized to treat different hand injuries. Some treatments are based around simple movements such as stretching, while others utilize a mechanism to guide and resist the fingers through different movement patterns. However, none of the existing treatment options actually exert a controlled force on the fingers to move them, and none utilize shape memory alloys to carry out their functions. The presentation will discuss the design of a lightweight glove which utilizes the ability of a shape memory alloy, Nitinol, to help patients’ hands move through various therapy patterns. The forces of the Nitinol wires closely resemble the forces needed by those going through the therapy process. The thermal activation can be done via electric current and the movements can be controlled with micro controlling program software. Once the patient starts to develop more functionality and strength over time, the glove can also be used as a resistance device to further develop muscle strength.

A A Hendi has completed her PhD at the age of 42 years from King Abdulaziz University (KAAU) and postdoctoral studies from same University. She is the director of Physics, a premier Bio-Soft service organization. She has published more than 22 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as lecturer and member of several physics associations in Saudi Arabia.

Nanocrystalline thin film of 2,3,9,10,16,17,23,24- octa (n-hexyl) Phthalocyanin atoruthenium(II), [(nhexyl) 8PcRu] deposited under high vacuum by thermal evaporation technique. The surface morphology of [(n-hexyl)8PcRu] thin film was measured using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) which showed nano-rod structures. The current–voltage (I–V) and capacitance–voltage (C–V) measurements of [(n-hexyl)8PcRu] onto p-Si substrate were studied. Dark current voltage (I–V) measurement was investigated at different temperatures ranging from 308 to 378 K indicates two conduction mechanisms: the first at lower forward voltages thermionic emission and second at higher forward voltages space charge limited currents (SCLC) with a single trap level. The ideality factor, n, series resistance RS, shunt resistance, RSh, and barrier height, Fb, were determined. The study of reverse voltage bias was interpreted in terms of generation-recombination. Abrupt nature was observed from dependence of capacitance –voltage for the device. Photovoltaic behavior was exhibited with power conversion efficiency ɲ of 2.1%.

Melissa Chavez Portillo completed her PhD at the age of 29 years from Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla. She has published more than 10 papers, She used quantum dots to increase its sensitivity and to capture infrared light in Solar cells.

Lithium (Li+) doped Lead sulfide (PbS) thin films were prepared chemical bath method. The concentration of Lithium in the precursor solution of Lead Sulphide was varied from 3mls to 6mls. The structural properties of as deposited films were characterized by X-ray diffraction. XRD patterns indicated the presence of cubic phase PbS with preferential orientation along (111) plane. Optical absorbance in visible region of the film increases with dopant concentration. The optical measurements reveal that the PbS:Li thin films possess direct band gap and the band gap energy increases with an increase of Li+ concentration. Thin films were found to be 1.8, 2 and 2.1 eV respectively. The dc conductivities of PbS and PbS:Li thin films are measured in temperature range 10–40 K. It is observed that the thermal conductivity increases at with an increase of Li content in PbS system. The experimental data suggests that the conduction is due to thermally assisted tunneling of the charge carriers in the localized states near the band edges. The activation energy and optical band gap are found to increasae with increasing Li concentration.

Faiza Boukazouha earned her Master degree in Physics fromUSTHB (Université des Sciences et de la Technologie Houari-Boumediene),Algiers, in 2002. Since 2003 she has been working as a researcher in the National Center of Research on Welding and Control (CSC) in Algeria.

This article is dedicated to the study of Piezoelectric Transformers (PTs), which offer promising solutions to the increasing need for integrated power electronics modules within autonomous systems. The advantages offered by such transformers include : immunity to electromagnetic disturbances; ease of miniaturisation for example, using conventional micro fabrication processes; and enhanced performance in terms of voltage gain and power efficiency. Central to the adequate description of such transformers is the need for complex analytical modeling tools, especially if one is attempting to include combined contributions due to (i) mechanical phenomena owing to the different propagation modes which differ at the primary and secondary sides of the PT; and (ii) electrical phenomena such as the voltage gain and power efficiency, which depend on the electrical load. The present work demonstrates an original one-dimensional (1D) analytical model, dedicated to a Rosen-type PT and simulation results are successively compared against that of a three-dimensional (3D) Finite Element Analysis (COMSOL Multiphysics software) and experimental results. The Rosen-type PT studied here is based a single layer soft PZT (P191) with corresponding dimensions 18mm×3mm×1.5mm. Detailed simulational and experimental results show that the presented 1D model predicts experimental measurements to within less than 10% error of the voltage gain at the second and third resonance frequency modes. Adjustment of the analytical model parameters is found to decreases errors relative to experimental voltage gain to within 1%, whilst a 2.5% error on the output admittance magnitude at the second resonance mode were obtained. Relying on the unique assumption of one-dimensionality, the present analytical model appears as a useful tool for Rosen-type PT design and behavior understanding.