The Grainger College of Engineering

Nestor J. Zaluzec

Nestor J. Zaluzec
Nestor J. Zaluzec
To Nestor J. Zaluzec for significant scientific and professional contributions to the field of microscopy and microanalysis and for fostering future scientists and engineering through the Illinois Junior Academy of Science.

Argonne National Laboratory, Materials Science Division, Argonne, Illinois

  • BS 1973, Physics, Illinois Institute of Technology
  • PhD 1978, Metallurgical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

 A principal investigator in the Electron Microscopy Center at Argonne National Laboratory as well as a Fellow of both Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Computational Institute of the University of Chicago, Nestor J. Zaluzec is a scientist, educator, and inventor. His research includes the development of state-of-the-art instrumentation and techniques for atomic resolution x-ray and electron spectroscopy, magnetic imaging, and the invention of the scanning confocal electron microscope.

In addition to creating tools for science, he also uses these leading-edge technologies to study vexing problems in technologically important materials. His work over the last quarter of a century has included studies in the areas of structural phase transformation in metals, radiation damage in alloys, ceramic oxides for geologic immobilization of nuclear waste materials, elemental segregation in semiconductor devices, and genetically engineered proteins for creation of two-dimensional templates for bio-materials nanoarrays. He was one of the earliest to realize the potential impact of the Internet on science and established the first TelePresence Microscopy Collaboratory, which has served as a model for outreach to both the scientific and education communities, providing unencumbered access to scientific resources.

In addition to his role as an adjunct professor at various Illinois universities, Zaluzec engages the next generation of scientists through his work with the Illinois Junior Academy of Science, where he continues to interact on a one-on-one basis with middle and high school students.

He has published more than 50 articles, and through Argonne National Laboratory, holds two patents. He has received numerous awards from professional societies, including the Burton Medal from the Microscopy Society of America, the Presidential Citation for International Collaborations from the Australian Society for Electron Microscopy, and the R&D 100 and SMSI Kohler Awards for developing the scanning confocal electron microscope.

Current as of 2005.