Awards

Dr. Adam Charnas is an electronic device researcher at Air Force Research Laboratory’s Materials and Manufacturing directorate. Dr. Charnas manages the 2,000 square foot DEEP cleanroom facility there while engaging in research on materials for extreme environment electronics. Before joining the civil service, he was an NRC post-doctoral fellow at AFRL supporting a variety of projects in the wide bandgap devices team on gallium oxide, silicon carbide, and gallium nitride. Prior to joining AFRL, Adam received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University on amorphous semiconductor electronics.

Dr. Charnas's dedication both to scientific excellence through his research and to advancing science throughout Ohio through his work on the DEEP cleanroom facility make him an extremely deserving winner of the 2025 AVS Ohio Early Career Award.

Marty Kordesch’s curiosity and relentless drive have led him to explore a wide range of topics in materials science, beginning with detailed investigations of metal surfaces. After contributing to the development of photoelectron emission microscopy (PEEM), Marty became one of the early pioneers in using this technique to unravel the behavior of complex material systems. For example, his group discovered significant field emission from CVD diamond films under electric fields far below expected thresholds, attributing the effect to micron-sized crystallites revealed through PEEM. Later, his work on rare-earth amorphous nitrides identified effective combinations of dopant species and post-growth treatments to achieve high luminescence yields. More recently, he has investigated the role of nanostructure shape chirality in generating plasmonic and photothermal responses in gold and tungsten helicoids, and has contributed to optimizing the growth of metal dichalcogenide films with integrated contacts, among other topics.

His remarkable success in mentoring undergraduates—particularly students in the Honors Tutorial College—has resulted in award-winning research and 18 completed HTC Honors Theses. Notably, two of these students earned prestigious and highly competitive NSF Graduate Research Fellowships. In recognition of his outstanding teaching and mentorship, Marty received the Outstanding Teaching Award at Ohio University.

David Ingram’s quiet leadership and intellectual rigor have shaped decades of impactful interdisciplinary research and mentorship at Ohio University. With a career rooted in the interplay between materials science and low-energy nuclear physics, Dr. Ingram has developed and refined ion beam analysis techniques—such as Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy RBS, particle-induced x-ray spectroscopy (PIXE), and elastic recoil spectroscopy (ERS)—to probe thin films and novel materials with exceptional precision. His research offered critical insights into radiation damage, compositional profiling, and defect characterization, with applications ranging from aerospace materials to microelectronics and nuclear systems.

David’s collaborative spirit has extended across disciplines and institutions. He has been a key partner in projects with colleagues in the Russ College of Engineering, the Air Force Institute of Technology, and national laboratories, always bringing careful experimental insight and deep scientific curiosity to the table. Just as notable as his research is David’s dedication to training the next generation of scientists. Over the course of his career, he mentored more dozens of graduate students at the Ph.D. students and master’s level, guiding them through complex experimental projects with clarity and patience. He has also long been a champion of undergraduate research, engaging students early and meaningfully in the lab—often sparking lifelong careers in science and engineering.

As Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, David led with humility and steadiness, supporting faculty and students alike while continuing to push the boundaries of his own research. His legacy is marked not only by scientific achievement but by the lasting impact he has had on those fortunate enough to work with and learn from him.