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Professor Jacob Israelachvili
Phone: 805-893 8407, Fax: 805-893 7870
E-mail:
jacob@engineering.ucsb.edu
Professor – joint appointments in the Department
of Chemical Engineering, Materials Dept, Materials Research Laboratory
(MRL), and the Biomolecular Science and Engineering (BMSE) Program.
University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB).
| Jacob Israelachvili received his BA and MA in
(Experimental) Physics from the University of Cambridge,
England, and also carried out graduate and postgraduate
research work there at the Surface Physics Department of
the Cavendish Laboratory.
where he holds joint
appointments as Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department,
the Materials Department, and the BioMolecular Science and
Engineering program. From 1993 to 2003 he was the Associate
Director of the Materials Research Laboratory at UCSB.
Israelachvili’s research interests are in the general area of
intermolecular and intersurface forces in biological, complex
fluid and materials systems. He uses the Surface Forces
Apparatus for directly measuring the forces between surfaces
in liquids and vapors, and for studying other interfacial
phenomena at the molecular level. Many other techniques are
also used. Not only static (i.e., equilibrium) but also dynamic
forces are being looked at, such as the ‘micro’ and ‘nano’
viscosities of ultra-thin liquid films, molecular relaxation
processes at surfaces, adhesion and friction, lubrication
and wear. In particular, Professor Israelachvili is currently
studying the very short-range forces between surfaces in
liquids and the relation between adhesion, friction, and
the conformations of molecules trapped between surfaces.
Another area of activity is the development of new experimental
techniques, especially for studying dynamic and time-dependent
interactions. New techniques are also being developed for
studying different materials and surfaces such as polymers,
gels, silica, metals, metal oxides, ceramics, biological
macromolecules (lipids, proteins, biopolymers, ligands
and their receptors) and the interactions (adhesion, fusion
and biolubrication) of model and real biomembranes and
biosurfaces. The aim of these studies is to gain insight
into the fundamental interactions in complex colloidal
and biological systems that also have technological applications,
for example, for creating biocompatible surfaces, developing new
types of structured materials and soft biomaterials, and for
medical diagnoses or treatments. As of October 2004 has
published (authored or co-authored) 287 papers, and is
the author of a text-book entitled “Intermolecular and
Surface Forces”. |
Appointments, Honors, and Awards
- ACS National Award in Colloid and Surface Chemistry (2009)
- Named by the AICHE as one of the “One Hundred Chemical Engineers of the Modern Era (2008)
- Honorary Degree of Doctor of Engineering – University of South Florida (2007)
- Honorary Degree of Doctor sc. h.c. - ETH Zurich (2006)
- Schlumberger Visiting Professor – University of Oxford, UK (2005)
- MRS Medal, awarded for recent work on adhesion and friction (2004)
- NAS (Elected to the US National Academy of Science in the area of Engineering Science) (2004)
- APS Fellow (Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society in the area of Biological Physics) (2004)
- Adhesion Society Award for “excellence in adhesion science (2003)
Some specific research projects and references
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