photogrammatical

Anthony Morfa and I went to High School together. We were bass trombone players in the school’s marching band together. As alumni, we were two of the 2000 piece band in the opening ceremonies of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. A few months later I would head off to Boot Camp, he would head off to college.

Today, Dr. Anthony Morfa is part of a team of chemists at the Nanoscience Laboratory, Bio21 Institute at the University of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. During my recent visit, Anthony took me to work, introduced me to some of his colleagues, and together they tried to explain things to me that were a little beyond my comprehension, but they had great visual aids.

Dr. Anthony Morfa

Dr. Tich-Lam Nguyen

Dr. Matthias Karg

Aside from being surrounded by science-y awesomeness like bubbling beakers, spinning vials and a laser room, they are working with “nano-particles” and “quantum dots”, finding new ways of gathering and utilizing light and energy, and pushing the limits of current LED (light emitting diode) and solar cell technologies.

Some Science-y Awesomeness

What I did understand is that these ‘green sciences’ are being studied by young, energetic PhDs who are excited about the work they are doing and the possibilities that these nano-technologies can hold. They were excited enough to get me excited. Then we were all excited, then someone brought in a black light.

Dr. Karg

Dr. Nguyen and Blacklight in the Laser Room.

A big thanks to Prof. Paul Mulvaney for graciously allowing both myself and my camera into his lab, to the “Dr.’s 3″ who gave me both their time and a brief lesson in Really Tiny Awesome Science, and to the rest of the chemists in the Nanoscience Lab who did better than tolerate my presence in their workplace.