Pearl Group Research

The Pearl Group in the Department of Physics investigates nanoscale phenomena with high spatial resolution probes as it relates to single molecule dynamics, surface and interfacial reactivity, molecular electronic transport, and organization of molecular thin films.  Members of the group come from a broad range of backgrounds, including Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science and Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, allowing for multi- and interdisciplinary science to happen.  Departmental affiliations for current students are listed below. Please contact Professor Pearl  regarding potential projects and position openings.  There are many exciting research directions that are just starting that include instrumentation development which will lead to highly interdisciplinary work involving probing surface chemical reactions, interactions, and behavior of single molecules with atomic scale tools.

Pearl group- September 2008
Back row: Tom Pearl, Jae-Ryang Hahn, Shawn Huston, Pengshun Luo, Veda Bharath, Katie Andrews, Nancy Santagata
Front row:Norman Bemelmans, Bryce Davis, Rachel Port

Group Members
(email)
academic program

Principal Investigator Thomas P. Pearl (tppearl @ ncsu.edu) Post-doctoral Associate Dr. Pengshun Luo (pluo @ ncsu.edu) Visiting Professor Professor Jae-Ryang Hahn Chonbuk National Univeristy-South Korea (jrhahn @ chonbuk.ac.kr)

Graduate Students Katie M. Andrews (katehearttofu @ gmail.com) Physics Veda C. Bharath (sbharat @ ncsu.edu) Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) Shawn M. Huston (smhuston @ ncsu.edu) Physics Nancy M. Santagata (nmsantagata @ ncsu.edu) Chemistry

Undergraduate Students Norman L. Bemelmans (nlbemelm @ ncsu.edu) Chemistry Bryce J. Davis (bfdavis @ ncsu.edu) Physics Rachel T. Port (bellacoeur @ gmail.com) Physics

Former Members Group position and tenure Current location (email) Randy J. Catalano Graduate Student 2006 (randycatalano @ gmail.com) Darryl J. Dewitt Undergraduate 2006-2008 (djdewitt @ ncsu.edu) Simon J. Kelly Graduate Student 2003-2005 Leiden University - Netherlands (simjkel @ yahoo.com) Matt E. Koepke NSF REU 2006 West Virginia University (matt.koepke @ gmail.com) Brett D. Kolditz NSF REU 2007 Bradley University (bkolditz @ gmail.com) Amit M. Lakhani Undergraduate 2004-2007 Univ. of California-Berkeley (amlakhan @ gmail.com) Courtney S. Mathews NSF REU 2005 University of Texas-Dallas (csmath @ utdallas.edu) Kaustubh R. Pimputkar Undergraduate 2005-2007 Cisco Systems (kaustubh85 @ gmail.com) Alex M. Pronschinske Undergraduate 2006-2007 NCSU (Physics) (ampronsc @ ncsu.edu) Michael S. Woody NSF REU 2008 UNC-CH Physics (wamichae @ email.unc.edu) Norman the Snowman Dewar frost: 1 day, 2007 Melted NCSU (Physics)

Group Awards

Darryl J. DeWitt
Phi Beta Kappa (2006)
Phi Kappa Phi (2006)

Shawn M. Huston
NCSU Alumni Fellowship (2006)
GAANN Fellowship (2007, 2008)
Participant-Lindau, Germany Nobel Laureate meeting (2008)

Amit M. Lakhani
Phi Beta Kappa
Phi Kappa Phi
Sigma Pi Sigma (National Physics Honor Society) (2007)
NCSU Department of Physics McCormick Award (2007)
NCSU Department of Physics Outstanding Graduating Senior in Research and Scholarly Achievement (2007)
NCSU College of Physical and Mathematical Science Graduating Senior Research Award (2007)
NCSU College of Engineering Senior Award for Scholarly Achievement (2007)
NCSU Undergraduate Research Symposium Award (2007)

Thomas P. Pearl
Carleton College Dana Award for Personal Achievement (1994)
ORAU Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award (2004)
American Chemical Society - Petroleum Research Fund, Type G award (2006)
NCSU Faculty Research and Professional Development Award (2006)
Sigma Xi Membership - NCSU chapter (2007)

Nancy M. Santagata
Phi Lambda Upsilon (National Chemistry Honor Society) (2007)
NCSU Department of Chemistry Award for Outstanding Graduate Research Accomplishments (2008)