(Photo courtesy of OSU Cascades)
An intense stable blue pigment is hard to find. For centuries, artists relied on the rich hues of a precious mineral, lapis lazuli, mined in Afghanistan, to produce the bluest of skies and sacred garments. At Oregon State University – Cascades Science Pub on Tuesday, May 17, OSU professor Mas Subramanian will present Colorful Materials World: New Color Pigments Discovery for Art and Industry.
Subramanian’s lecture explores how a serendipitous discovery by his team in the lab led to the brilliant blue pigment that the world has long sought. Under the leadership of Subramanian, a recognized expert on inorganic solid state materials, that lab is now writing a new chapter in color pigment chemistry and changing the marketplace for both industry and artists.
Subramanian is the Milton Harris Professor of Materials Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at Oregon State’s College of Science. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemistry from University of Madras in India and a Ph.D. from Indian Institute of Technology, also in Madras, India. He served as a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow at Texas A&M University. Subramanian was a scientist at DuPont Company for more than two decades, before joining OSU in 2006.
His research focuses on designing new inorganic solid state functional materials for emerging applications in electronics, energy conversion and environment. Subramanian is internationally recognized for several scientific breakthrough discoveries in the field of superconductors, dielectrics, magnetism, catalysis, thermoelectrics and inorganic pigments. These discoveries were highlighted in several leading popular science news outlets including The New York Times, National Geographic Magazine, Chemical & Engineering News, Science News, Science&Vie (France), Geo Magazine (Germany), Chemistry World (UK), La Monde (France) and The Hindu (India).
Among the awards and honors he has received for contributions to science are the Charles Pedersen Medal awarded by DuPont Company for Excellence in Scientific and Technical Achievement (2004), US National Science Foundation Creativity Award (2012), Chemical Research Society of India International Medal (2012), F.A. Gilfillan Memorial Award from Oregon State University for Distinguished Scholarship in Science (2013) and the 2016 Outstanding Scientist Award from Oregon Academy of Science.
Science Pubs take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Networking and food and beverage service begin at 5:30 p.m., and the presentation begins at 6:30 p.m. Science Pubs are free to community members, but reservations are required. Space is limited to 100 guests. Register by 5:00pm the day prior to each Science Pub at http://www.osucascades.edu/sciencepubs.
