JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS 111, 013510 (2012)

The effective thermoelectric behavior of layered heterogeneous medium is studied, with the
distribution of temperature, electric potential, and heat flux solved rigorously from the governing
equations, and the effective thermoelectric properties defined through an equivalency principle. It is
discovered that the effective thermoelectric figure of merit of a composite medium can be higher than
all of its constituents even in the absence of size and interface effects, in contrast to previous studies.
This points toward a new route for high figure of merit thermoelectric materials.

http://jap.aip.org/resource/1/japiau/v111/i1/p013510_s1

Formal announcement is pasted below.

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The Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track faculty position, which will be available at the start of the 2012-2013 academic year. The position will be at the rank of assistant professor or associate professor.

Dear colleagues,

  There are only five days left to submit an abstract to 2011 MRS Spring
Meeting, and we call contributions from mechanics community to Symposium Z: Nanoscale Electromechanics of Inorganic,
Macromolecular, and Biological System. More information about the symposium, including a list of invited speakers, can be found at

http://www.mrs.org/s_mrs/bin.asp?CID=26952&DID=325646&DOC=FILE.PDF

We call for contributions from mechanics community to 2011 MRS Spring Meeting Symposium Z: Nanoscale Electromechanics of Inorganic, Macromolecular, and Biological Systems

The abstract submission is open until Nov. 2, 2010, at http://mrsspring2011.abstractcentral.com/

More information about the symposium, including a list of invited speakers, can be found at

http://www.mrs.org/s_mrs/bin.asp?CID=26952&DID=325646&DOC=FILE.PDF,

in the attached PDF file, or in the following text.

We will also appreciate it if you can help circulating the announcement.

Look forward to seeing you in San Francisco next spring.

Jiangyu

Application for travel fellowship is now solicited for US postdocotoral scholars and graduate students to participate 8th International Workshop on Piezoresponse Force Microscopy and Nanoscale Electromechanics of Polar Materials, to be held in Beijing, China, August 25-27, 2010. Detailed information on the workshop can be found at http://www.ustb.edu.cn/materials/files/pfm/index.html. Interested applicants are invited to submit an application consisting of an abstract for poster related to piezoresponse force microscopy or nanoscale electromechanics, a short CV, and a recommendation letter from advisor to Jiangyu Li at jjli@uw.edu. The first announcement of the workshop is also attached.

This is a preprint that is going to appear on Applied Physics Letters. It is somewhat related to a paper by Kaushik Dayal on complex crystalline structure via phase field simulation that was posted here. 

Austenite-Martensite Interface in Shape Memory Alloys

C. H. Lei, L. J. Li, Y. C. Shu, and J. Y. Li

Abstract

This workshop aims
to provide in-depth description and recent advances in piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) and nanoscale
electromechanics. It will introduce basic principles of PFM operation, relevant
instrumental aspects, and image interpretation. The theory of cantilever
dynamics, PFM contact mechanics, resolution theory, and their implications for
qualitative and quantitative data interpretation will be presented. The recent
technical advances, including vector PFM, high-frequency PFM, band-excitation
and DRFT imaging, switching spectroscopy PFM, and imaging and polarization
switching in liquids and vacuum, will also be illustrated. For ferroelectric
and multiferroic materials, applications of PFM for domain imaging, nucleation