Nanotechnology

Postdoctoral associate works in the field of nanotechnology characterizing the evolution and interactions of organisms and biological systems and treatment of systems that are far from equilibrium.

This research relates to how proteins regulate access to genes in the context of cell fate choice in the immune system and has direct implications for treating autoimmune pathologies and improving vaccination strategies. Developing a mathematical and computational framework to assess the extent to which anti-HIV antibodies act to modulate viral load. The beneficiary’s I-140 petition was approved in 91 days.

USCIS approved a petition for a Postdoctoral Scholar whose significant contributions to glass forming materials confined in nanomaterials is his development of an electrochemical cell for porous silicon formation. His research has shown practical importance in the energy and medical industries. This scholar is working directly with a research and development team at St. Jude Medical to develop an accelerated in-vitro model that would replicate the environment stress crackling (ESC) observations that had been made on outer surfaces of cardiac implantable leads.

Postdoctoral researcher works in the fields of analytical, bioanalytical and material chemistry and specifically in the highly complex and sophisticated area of conducting polymer nanocomposites. This and other versatile polymers have broader applications in energy and environmental fields and hold great promise in overcoming the modern world energy crisis and environmental issues. Green chemistry devises chemical products and processes that minimize or eradicate the use or generation of toxic substances.

The research focuses on enhancing the strength of polyurethane foam by incorporating carbon nanotubes, which, because of their superior mechanical properties such as being fifty times the specific strength of steel and being excellent, load-bearing reinforcements in composites, are considered the ideal form of fiber.

Future aerospace vehicles and their novel design concepts depend on new, lightweight composites to permit significant reduction of weight and size of components. A spacecraft with carbon nanotube composites has a 50% deduction in weight, which is substantial and will revolutionize material science as well as human space exploration. The beneficiary’s I-140 petition was approved in 30 days.

USCIS approved an NIW petition for a Postdoctoral Associate working in the lab of a noteworthy cancer research center. The petitioner is an expert in the field of translational medicine using a nano-engineered delivery platform.

The petition focused on several of the petitioner’s contributions of national merit, including her roles designing and optimizing a unique cancer treatment platform intended for clinical use and commercialization while working on translational medicine in a world-renowned laboratory that translates the product from bench to bedside. The petition also highlighted her work in developing a topical nano-engineered sponge treatment that delivers chemotherapy drugs for use in treating several stages of cancer while simultaneously significantly reducing systemic toxicity to the patient will provide a treatment for patients at the earlier pre-cancer stage. The beneficiary’s I-140 petition was approved in 31 days.

USCIS recently approved a National Interest Waiver petition for a physics researcher. The researcher, who specializes in nanoscale physics, has a Ph.D. in Engineering.

The beneficiary’s research in nanoscale physics, specifically in the area of mesoscopic superconductivity, is important for the development of advanced integrated circuits and critical improvements to superconducting wire. In recent research efforts, the beneficiary discovered that ultrathin superconducting wires can withstand stronger magnetic fields than larger wires made from the same material. This finding is expected to be extremely useful for technologies that employ superconducting magnets, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The evidence submitted showed that the beneficiary’s research could undoubtedly have a significant effect on improving the MRI systems which are routinely used as diagnostic tools in hospitals throughout the United States and the world. The beneficiary’s I-140 petition was approved in 76 days.

USCIS approved a petition for a physics researcher who works in the fields of nanotechnology, polymer materials research and biomolecular systems has important applications for researchers in computational biophysics, chemistry and structural biology, as well as the pharmaceutical industry and the medical field.

The NIW petition showed that this researcher developed a computational method, called Analytical Linearized Poisson-Boltzmann (ALPB) that makes calculating the free energy performed during the drug search on the order of 100 times more accurate. This research in nanotechnology is providing a faster method of calculating the free energy of biomolecules in solution. The molecular modeling and simulation involved in this calculation is one of the most difficult problems in computational chemistry.

USCIS approved a National Interest Waiver petition for a Postdoctoral Research Associate doing research related to nanotechnology; specifically scanning probe microscopy of organic self-assembled structures and metal nanostructures. The focus of this research is on understanding how the self-assembled molecular structures can be coupled to suitable metal nanostructures to generate enhanced functional properties for optoelectronics applications.

This petitioner has a pending patent on the use of surface photovoltage microscopy for mechanical stress characterization in complementary metal oxide semiconductor and bipolar junction transistors which will be extremely valuable in the semiconductor industry.

The NIW petition recognized that his research contributions shows new methodologies based on quantum dots and metal nanoparticles that are very promising for early detection of cancer. The beneficiary’s I-140 petition was approved in 48 days.

The petitioner’s research deals with the design, simulation, fabrication, and characterization of micro/nano-phononic crystal structures for wireless communications and sensing applications. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) is the technology of very small devices; it merges at the nano-scale into nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) and nanotechnology. MEMS technology is making a revolution in high-tech applications as well as everyday life. Current applications of MEMS technology include navigation systems, projectors, inkjet or laser printers, smart phones, sensors, wireless communications devices, and game consuls. Recently, micro gyroscopes and accelerometers are being used in smart phones to provide precision navigation and movement-based gaming. MEMS accelerometers have saved many lives in the world by deployment of airbags in cars in the event of accidents. Also, MEMS technology is used to create timing reference signals like the clocks on computers and other electronic devices and to make very efficient frequency filters for wireless communications.

The NIW petition acknowledges that the petitioner was the first to successfully introduce and implement phononic crystals into the MEMS technology and show that the performance of many MEMS devices can be improved using phononic crystals (also called phononic band gap materials). His work has many applications in wireless communications devices including cell phones and smart phones as well as electronic equipment that need timing (such as navigation devices and computers).

The USCIS approved an NIW petition for a Senior Scientist working in the area of renewable energy research at a nanotechnology company.

The petition highlighted the petitioner’s research advancements in the field of solar energy conversion using dye-sensitized solar cells. He has produced solar cells that convert solar energy into electrical energy with a reasonable power conversion efficiency. The petitioner also developed a continuous flow reactor and processes for the continuous flow synthesis of semiconductor core and core/shell nanowires. He is currently working to transition novel nanomaterials from the lab to the market.

USCIS recently approved a National Interest Waiver in less than seven months for a Research Assistant Professor in chemistry. The beneficiary’s expertise has important applications in developing new materials and new methods of computing, including DNA storage of digital information and smaller biochip devices for military applications.

USCIS approved a petition for a postdoctoral research associate. The beneficiary works in the field of nanotechnology and specifically in the area of nanofluidics and lab-on-a-chip technologies.

The NIW petition showed that the researcher’s work has practical applications in the areas of medical analysis, pharmaceutical testing, and biological and/or chemical testing. The petitioner’s continuing research is aimed at developing new strategies to build highly integrated lab-on-a-chip technologies for applications in biomedicine, chemical sensing, chemical and biochemical threat agent detection and advanced chemical processing.

USCIS approved a National Interest Waiver petition for this chemical biology postdoctoral researcher in the field of nanotribology and specifically in the area of polymer interfaces as lubricious and non-fouling surfaces.

This research involves the modification of surfaces with polymer brushes, which are chains of macromolecules attached on a surface with only one or a few anchor points, and at high grafting densities, such that the chains are crowded and extend away from the surface, in order to control their interfacial properties such as adhesion, lubrication, viscoelasticity, and wettability. The beneficiary’s I-140 petition was approved in 137 days.

USCIS approved a National Interest Waiver petition for a postdoctoral research associate working in the field of nanotechnology and micro-electro-mechanical systems. The petitioner is a leading and internationally recognized scholar within the field of advanced life science nanotechnology and the semiconductor industry and has contributed groundbreaking, innovative research in the afore mentioned specialties.

This petitioner’s research contributions have led to the improvement and advancement of techniques in the environmental microsensors field, which is an area of vital importance to the defense, national security, environment and economy of the United States and globally. His capability to develop processes for semiconductor devices has tremendous potential to affect the semiconductor market share of U.S. companies and the greater worldwide semiconductor market. The petitioner currently works as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at a prestigious laboratory for studying MEMS fabrication, electrochemical sensors, and Optical MEMS sensors.

USCIS approved a National Interest Waiver petition for a postdoctoral research associate working in the field of nanotechnology and semiconductors. Petitioner works in the in the highly complex and sophisticated area of spintronics and nanoscale high-speed electronics. Petitioner’s research in the specialized field of spintronics has had a significant impact on the semiconductor field of research due to the demand of spintronic mechanisms for memory chip integration. The practical implications of her work are high-speed switching transistors in memory chips and CMOS circuits.

The current project of the petitioner is at the forefront of the emerging field of semiconductor spintronics which exploits both the intrinsic spin of the electron and its associated magnetic moment, in addition to its fundamental electronic charge, in solid-state devices. This is considered to be one of the few available options to further decrease the size of microelectronics devices in order to minimize the cost of production and power consumption.

USCIS approved a NIW petition for a teaching assistant working in the highly complex and sophisticated field of mechanical engineering. Petitioner has made major contributions in the area of nanotechnology and biomechanics and is the principal author of ground-breaking research regarding arterial mechanical properties. Petitioner’s research in this area of nanoindentation received funding from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

The NIW petition focuses on the petitioner’s research work in the area of developing the equivalent continuum model for a single-layered grapheme sheet. His method integrates molecular dynamics method as an exact numerical solution with theory of shell as an analytical method. His results demonstrate that the proposed method could provide a valuable tool for studying the mechanical behavior of single-layered graphene sheets, as well as efficiency of continuum theory in nano-structured material. Advancement in this area is pertinent to the national and international science community. Its importance is evidenced by the fact that the Nobel Prize in Physics 2010 was awarded in this category of single layer graphene sheets. The beneficiary’s I-140 petition was approved in 29 days.

The USCIS approved an NIW petition for a Predoctoral Research Associate working in the area of nano-biotechnology in the materials science department at a public state research university.

The NIW petition focused on the petitioner’s work using synthetic magnetic nanocarriers as contrast agents for early diagnosis of cancers using magnetic particles imaging (MPI), which is an ultrasensitive alternative imaging technique for MRI. He has also developed approaches that have enhanced the tumor targeting efficiency of nanoparticles. The petitioner is also pursuing the development of new bio-imaging techniques that will enable doctors to diagnose cancers as well as other diseases at their early stages. His skills in the synthesis of various organic and inorganic nanostructures have enabled him to play a key role in developing the size tuned iron oxide nanoparticles that behave as efficient MPI tracers, generating high resolution and signal intensity.

USCIS approved a petition for a Postdoctoral Research Associate who has made major contributions in the area of nanotechnology, antenna-coupled infrared detectors and solar energy harvesting. His work has been found to be beneficial to a variety of applications that requires infrared detection such as night vison, solar energy harvesting, land mine detection, and rocket launch detection from military aircrafts or from space based systems.

USCIS approved a petition for a Researcher who has developed instrumentation for advanced single particle spectroscopic measurements, which has deepened the field’s mechanistic understanding of this class of semiconductor materials – nanowires. His work in this area benefits the U.S. economy by contributing to advanced design for materials that can be used not only in photocatalysis, but also in the solar cell industry.