Resumé & Curriculum Vitae
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Headshot of Michael in a SuitI am currently working at Perot Systems, Plano, TX. I am part of the Office of Strategy and Governance for an account that provides the full spectrum of information technology services for a national healthcare company. I help build strategies and address enterprise-level information technology needs. It's a dynamic role with broad direction that requires a lot of critical thinking and creativity, which keeps me on my toes.

Before that, I worked at the Air Force Research Lab, as a Senior Research Fellow, through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education. I was located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, in the Human Effectiveness Directorate, specifically in the Applied Biotechnology Branch of the Biosciences & Protection Division. I worked on keeping people alive and healthy by identifying threats to them, mitigating threats to them, and improving their performance. I did all of this through the magic of nanobiotechnology. That was my plunge into the "wet" (biological) side of nanotechnology.

My Curriculum Vitae

Selected Publications & Presentations

  1. Jared L. Hudson, Michael J. Casavant, and James M. Tour*; Water-Soluble, Exfoliated, Nonroping Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes. J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 126, 11158 (2004)
  2. M. J. Casavant, D. A. Walters, J. J. Schmidt, and R. E. Smalley; "Neat macroscopic membranes of aligned carbon nanotubes". J. Appl. Phys. 93, 2153-2156 (2003).
  3. J. E. Fischer, W. Zhou, J. Vavro, M. C. Llaguno, C. Guthy, and R. Haggenmueller, M. J. Casavant, D. E. Walters, and R. E. Smalley; "Magnetically aligned single wall carbon nanotube films: Preferred orientation and anisotropic transport properties." J. Appl. Phys. 93, 2157-2163 (2003).
  4. M. J. Casavant, D. A. Walters, M. Stoutimore, R. E. Smalley, R. Hagenmueller, J. Vavro and J. E. Fischer; "Macroscopic Sheet Assemblies Of Magnetically Aligned Carbon Nanotubes." Presented at the November 2001 meeting of the Materials Research Society.
  5. K. D. Ausman, M. J. O’Connell, P. Boul, L. M. Ericson, M. J. Casavant, D. A. Walters, C. Huffman, R. Saini, Y. Wang, E. Haroz, E. W. Billups, and R. E. Smalley; "Roping and Wrapping Carbon Nanotubes." To appear in Proceedings of XVth International Winterschool on Electronic Properties of Novel Materials Euroconference Kirchberg, Tirol, Austria (2001).
  6. X. Liu, T. Pichler, M. Knupfer, M. S. Golden, J. Fink, D. A. Walters, M. J. Casavant, J. Schmidt, R. E. Smalley; "An electron energy-loss study of the structural and electronic properties of magnetically aligned single wall carbon nanotubes" Synthetic Metals, 121, 1183-1186 (2001).
  7. D. A. Walters, M. J. Casavant, X. C. Qin, C. B. Huffman, P. J. Boul, L. M. Ericson, E. H. Haroz, M. J. O’Connell, K. Smith, D. T. Colbert, and R. E. Smalley; "In-plane-aligned membranes of carbon nanotubes." Chem. Phys. Lett. 338, 14-20 (2001).
  8. M. J. Casavant, D. A. Walters, X. C. Qin, C. B. Huffman, D. T. Colbert, R. E. Smalley; "Assemblies Of Magnetically Aligned Carbon Nanotubes." Presented at March 2000 meeting of the American Physical Society.
  9. J. Hone, M. C. Llaguno, N. M. Nemes, A. T. Johnson, J. E. Fischer, D. A. Walters, M. J. Casavant, J. Schmidt, R. E. Smalley; "Electrical And Thermal Transport Properties Of Magnetically Aligned Single Wall Carbon Nanotube Films." Appl. Phys. Lett.77, 666-668 (2000).
  10. B. W. Smith, Z. Benes, D. E. Luzzi, J. E. Fischer, D. A. Walters, M. J. Casavant, J. Schmidt, R. E. Smalley; "Structural Anisotropy Of Magnetically Aligned Single Wall Carbon Nanotube Films." Appl. Phys. Lett. 77, 663-665 (2000).
  11. D. A. Walters, L. M. Ericson, M. J. Casavant, J. Liu, D. T. Colbert, K. A. Smith, R. E. Smalley; Elastic Strain Of Freely Suspended Single-Wall Carbon Nanotube Ropes. Appl. Phys. Lett. 74, 3803-3805 (1999).
  12. J. Liu, M. J. Casavant, M. E. Cox, D. A. Walters, P. Boul, W. Lu, A. J. Rimberg, K. A. Smith, D. T. Colbert, R. E. Smalley: Controlled Deposition Of Individual Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes On Chemically Functionalized Templates. Chem. Phys. Lett. 303, 125-129 (1999).

Further Discussion on My Graduate and Postdoctoral Work

In case you forgot what the "AF" in AFRL stood for,
they had a handy reminder

Posing at Rick's Desk :)
(Grad student offices weren't *that* nice!)

My previous research included nanoscale mechanics of nanocomposites, rational characterization of functionalized single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT) via atomic force microscopy (AFM), selective facile functionalization of SWNT, post-synthesis growth of SWNT, characterizing self-assembled monolayer systems, and a dash of nanotube-doped polymer work. I worked primarily with Jim Tour (my advisor) and Rick Smalley, as part of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, at Rice University Houston, TX.

My doctoral research involved the successful creation of a novel naontube material, aligned assemblies of carbon nanotubes with a mosaic angle as low as 28 degrees and a density 40%-60% that of theoretical closest packed density. This was accomplished with a magnetic field strength of 25 Tesla. I sucessfully reproduced the results with a more commonly available magnetic field strength, 7 Tesla. Prior to my doctoral work I achieved controlled deposition of carbon nanotubes onto composite SAM layers.

If you have questions, please contact me.

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