Iowa State University Alumni Association| online edition | fall 2006
Victor Lin

 


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VICTOR LIN, PROFESSOR
BOLDLY GOING WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE

The first many of us heard of the term “nanotechnology” was watching episodes of “Star Trek” and its mission “to boldly go where no man has gone before.” In the 1960s, nanotechnology was a mere scientific dream used to control ballooning Tribble populations or to defeat a new Klingon attack.

Now, Victor Lin is using nanotechnology to re-engineer how biodiesel may be refined more cheaply and environmentally friendly, how to improve the conversion of hydrogen fuel cell technology as an alternative for the cars of tomorrow, and how to safely and with fewer side effects deliver cancer-fighting drugs to targeted areas using a “gate” trigger release.

Essentially, all of this is accomplished with fine grains of sand or silica with a diameter much smaller than a human hair but with a greatly enhanced surface area – the world of “Star Trek,” just a few centuries earlier.

Lin’s work has attracted funding from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Departments of Energy and Agriculture, and the Grow Iowa Values Fund. His research has the potential to stimulate alternative energy development, medical and vaccine research and manufacturing, and other potential job creators for Iowa – economic engines largely missing from the state’s portfolio today.

The work has garnered Lin many awards. In 2002, he was awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER award that recognizes promising young scientists. In 2004, he was recognized by Iowa State’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for Early Achievement in Research/Artistic Creativity. Lin also has earned several teaching awards.

It is his role as a teacher and mentor to future scientists and doctors that Lin finds especially rewarding.

“Every week, I think of a topic to lecture on,” Lin says. “I start with the basics and then encourage the students to problem-solve and pick up the background language. The students experience the material, not just memorize it.”

Lin includes his students in the practical applications of his research. For example, with his biodiesel research with the West Central Co-op in Ralston, Iowa, the students learn how research is actually applied in a functioning refining plant, talk to the co-op’s engineers to see what works and what doesn’t, and see first-hand how the lab research translates into a profitable business model.

“My students are as concerned with the bottom line and economic feasibility of a product as with the basic research,” Lin said. “They understand that for research to be most useful to society, it has to be transferable to industry.”

For Lin, research is his passion. It consumes most of his professional and personal life. But it has allowed him to travel and see the world, something he enjoys.

“Sometimes, I feel uncomfortable if I don’t have a suitcase in my hand,” Lin said. “I love to travel. I love to meet new people and learn new ways of thinking and discovering. At Iowa State, I have
the best of both worlds.”

Read on | Have mercy!

About the Writer | Kevin Brown is a freelance writer from Pleasant Hill, Iowa.