News Story

Clark School Professor's Research Featured by Department of Energy

Prof. John Cumings

Research by the Clark School’s very own Prof. John Cumings (Materials Science and Engineering) is featured this month by the Department of Energy Office of Science as a "Story of Discovery and Innovation."

Dr. Cumings’ research addresses the issue of heating in electronic devices, known as resistive or Joule heating. Joule heating occurs as electric currents travel through wires and conductors of electronic devices, and is a common process in items we use every day, including coffee machines, electric stoves and laptops.

Dr. Cumings and his research team discovered that a carbon nanotube conducts electricity without heating up, minimizing Joule heating. The team named this new phenomenon "remote Joule heating." The research was recently published in Nature Nanotechnology.

Dr. Cumings is an associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and his research focuses on advancing the understanding of the dynamic properties of nanoscale systems.

Read the Department of Energy Office of Science story here.

For more information, visit: http://www.mse.umd.edu/news/news_story.php?id=6398.

May 1, 2013