The Microanalysis Society (MAS) has announced Weston Fulton Professor Sergei Kalinin as the winner of the 2024 Peter Duncumb Award for Excellence in Microanalysis. Each year, the award honors one MAS member who has sustained an outstanding level of achievement in the field of microanalysis—the investigation of matter at the micrometer scale.
“This is very high-level recognition,” Kalinin said. “The MAS is very specialized in microscopy, which is the core of my interest. It is very well aligned with how I see myself and what I try to accomplish.”
Over the last 20 years, Kalinin has distinguished himself across the three areas recognized by the Peter Duncumb Award: technical accomplishment, leadership, and educational activities.
Kalinin’s technical work has focused on combining microscopy and machine learning (ML) methods. Fifteen years ago, he began applying ML to microscope data analysis; more recently, he has trained ML agents to autonomously conduct experiments, pushing the bounds of atomic-level microscopy.
While working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in 2006, Kalinin started teaching microscopy workshops, establishing himself as a regional leader in the implementation of piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). His tremendously popular workshops expanded, leading to an international series. PFM is now an integral part of many meetings of the International Symposium on Applications of Ferroelectrics (ISAF), which is sponsored by the IEEE.
Kalinin also freely shares his expertise with the public. In addition to his many appearances on educational YouTube channels, Kalinin maintains his own channel, Machine Learning in the Nanoworld, which has hundreds of hours of free content devoted to integrating ML with multiple types of microscopy.
“You need to share knowledge,” he said. “Part of the reason I left ORNL, and ultimately came to UT, was the opportunity to share my knowledge.”
Kalinin will officially receive the Peter Duncumb Award plaque and accompanying $2,000 prize during the opening plenary of the MAS annual meeting, Microscopes and Microanalysis. The meeting will run from July 28 to August 1, 2024, in Cleveland, OH.
Contact
Izzie Gall (865-974-7203, egall4@utk.edu)