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Dr. Kim Lewis, PhysicistContact: Professor Kim Lewis FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Email:
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RENOWNED PHYSICIST DEVELOPING A MULTIFUNCTIONAL SENSOR THAT CAN DETECT CHEMICAL WARFARE AGENTS AT HOME AND ON THE BATTLEFIELDA LITTLE KNOWN WAY THE STIMULUS PACKAGE IS HELPING AMERICANS REMAIN SAFE AND REDUCING HEALTHCARE COSTTroy, N.Y., Oct 13, 2009 – With so little information being disseminated about where and how the stimulus money is being spent and how it’s being used, here is another way that the stimulus package is benefitting Americans. Dr. Kim Lewis, Professor of Physics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) has recently received funding from the National Science Foundation as a part of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (AARA) of 2009. Dr. Lewis’ research on Multifunctional Chemiresistor Sensors has been garnering a lot of attention in the scientific community because of its many life-changing applications. Dr. Lewis’ research promotes the use of chemiresistor sensor arrays that are capable of detecting a single vapor molecule. The array will enable simultaneous detection of different volatile organic compounds (VOCs) on a single chip. These devices are advantageous due to its scalability, nanometer size, low power consumption and cost, and simplicity. The operation of the device is based on the use of gold nanoparticles, which are coated with an organic sensing element. The use of gold nanoparticles opens possibilities for the sensors to be fabricated on flexible or curved substrates. The sensitivity of such a device is 300 times more sensitive than the household carbon monoxide detector. Such a device can be beneficial to our society in many ways, including the detection of explosives for chemical warfare agents, which is of interest to our National Security. These devices can be of practical use in the automobile industry to detect exhaust gases, which may be harmful to humans and the environment, reducing the world’s carbon footprint. Availability of these sensors can be made to the health care or medical industries for use in point-of-care diagnostics. Dr. Lewis explains further that “This emerging technology can improve detection of chemical agents in America and around the world, virtually eliminating the need for human and/or animal detection in chemical warfare. This device may also be used to analyze blood samples from patients, which could lead to a quicker, more accurate diagnosis and reduce health care cost and the ‘wait time’ for anxious patients.” Dr. Lewis is one of the handful of African American Woman Physicists in the United States today, and is a Professor of Physics at RPI. If you would like more information about this world changing technology, or would like to schedule an interview with Dr. Lewis, please call: 518-276-3978 or email Dr Lewis at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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