Three MSE student researchers receive awards at the Microscopy & Microanalysis Conference 2022

MSE graduate students, Yucy Qiu, Daniel Zeitler and Sang Bum Yi claim awards for their research work performed in the Open Centre of Characterization of Advanced Materials (OCCAM)

Congratulations to Materials Science & Engineering graduate students Chenyue ‘Yucy’ Qiu (PhD Candidate) and Daniel Zeitler (MASc Candidate) for garnering the best poster awards and Sang Bum Yi (MASc Candidate) for receiving the Student Scholar Award at the Microscopy & Microanalysis Conference (M&M 2022). Held on July 31st in Portland, Oregon, USA, M&M is the biggest microscopy conference dedicated to the promotion of all areas of microscopy research around the world.

Supervised by Professor Jane Howe (MSE/ChemEng) and Professor Doug Perovic (MSE) Qiu’s poster titled, “Real-time Analysis of Oxygen Vacancy of Indium Oxide via Environmental Transmission Electron Microscopy” investigates how structural change at atomic-level improves the efficiency of indium oxide as the catalyst for the conversion of CO2 to hydrocarbons. To understand the structural, morphological and chemical changes of the catalysts during the reactions, it’s important to improve the design of the catalyst and further enhance the catalytic performance. In Qiu’s work, in situ heating TEM technique is used to reveal the dynamic structural and chemical changes of the indium oxide catalyst and correlate these changes to the noticeably improved performance.

Zeitler’s poster  titled, “Automated Grain Segmentation for Crystal Orientation Mapping in 4D Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy,” is under the guidance of Prof. Doug Perovic  and Prof. Roger Newman (ChemEng). Four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM) is transforming the field of electron microscopy by allowing quantitative, spatially resolved crystallographic analyses with exceptional precision. However, the enormous number of diffraction images that must be collected makes the acquisition and processing of 4D-STEM data a major challenge. In his work, Zeitler, demonstrates an automated method for the strategic targeting of probe positions used to minimize the workload required for crystal orientation mapping.

Daniel Zeitler (left) Chenyue ‘Yucy’ Qiu (right), receiving best poster awards at the Microscopy & Microanalysis Conference 2022

Sang Bum Yi received the M&M Student Scholar Award for his paper entitled, “Electron Backscattered Diffraction Analysis of Electrodeposited Copper Coatings for Canada’s Used Nuclear Fuel Containers”, a research work that is co-supervised by Prof. Uwe Erb and Prof. Jane Howe.

The research work of Qiu, Zeitler and Yi was conducted in the Open Centre for Characterization of Advanced Materials (OCCAM). Co-Directed by Prof. Howe and Prof. Perovic, OCCAM allows researchers ready access to state-of-the-art surface analytical equipment and electron microscopic techniques.

“Through CFI and NSERC supports, our students have the opportunity to use the state-of-the-art research facility conducting cutting-edge research,” said Professor Jane Howe, Qiu’s supervisor. ” I acknowledge the SGS travel grants made it possible for us to send many  students to conferences. In graduate school, students establish themselves and build up network by attending important conferences.”