Pratibha Gai

Pratibha Gai
Institutions
Alma mater University of Cambridge
Thesis Applications of Weak Beam Electron Microscopy (1974)
Notable awards
Website
www.york.ac.uk/physics/people/gai/

Pratibha L. Gai FRS FRSC FREng[1] is a microscopist and Professor and Chair of Electron Microscopy and Director at The York JEOL Nanocentre, Departments of Chemistry and Physics, University of York, United Kingdom.[2]

Education and ealry life

Originally from India, Gai was educated at the University of Cambridge where she was awarded a PhD in 1974 for research on weak beam electron microscopy conducted in the Cavendish Laboratory.[3][4]

Research and career

Gai has pioneered advanced in-situ electron microscopy applications in the chemical sciences and with Edward D. Boyes co-invented the atomic resolution environmental transmission electron microscope (ETEM). The ETEM enables the visualisation and analysis on the atomic scale of dynamic gas-catalyst reactions underpinning key chemical processes. Her research has helped to understand better how catalysts function, leading to valuable new science. Her microscope and process inventions are being exploited worldwide by microscope manufacturers, chemical companies and researchers.[5][6]

In 2009, after years of development, Gai, who holds a chair in electron microscopy and is co-director of the York JEOL Nanocentre at the University of York, succeeded in creating a microscope capable of perceiving chemical reactions at the atomic scale.[7] This is an advance on conventional microscopes at this scale, which can only view innate material in the "dead" conditions of a vacuum at room temperature. It is known as the atomic resolution environmental transmission electron microscope (ETEM).[8]

With the help of colleagues, she built and refined the machine over two decades, beginning with a lower-resolution prototype when she was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford. She then spent 18 years in the US at chemical firm DuPont and the University of Delaware.[7][9]

Awards and honours

References

  1. 1 2 "RAEng: New Fellows 2014". Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  2. ↑ "Pratibha Gai - Physics, The University of York". York.ac.uk. Retrieved 2013-05-13.
  3. ↑ Gai, Pratibha L. (1974). Applications of Weak Beam Electron Microscopy. (PhD thesis). University of Cambridge. OCLC 500447391.
  4. ↑ "Professor Pratibha L. Gai" (PDF). Loreal-UNESCO Awards 2013 Laureate. Retrieved 2013-05-13.
  5. 1 2 "Professor Pratibha Gai FREng FRS". London: Royal Society. Archived from the original on 2016-04-29. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where:
    "All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License." --Royal Society Terms, conditions and policies at the Wayback Machine (archived September 25, 2015)
  6. ↑ Gai, Pratibha L.; Harmer, Mark A. (2002). "Surface Atomic Defect Structures and Growth of Gold Nanorods". Nano Letters. 2 (7): 771–774. doi:10.1021/nl0202556.
  7. 1 2 Gibney, Elizabeth (14 February 2013). "Pratibha Gai's award-winning focus". Times Higher Education.
  8. ↑ Cronin, Stephen B; Lin, Yu-Ming; Rabin, Oded; Black, Marcie R; Ying, Jackie Y; Dresselhaus, Mildred S; Gai, Pratibha L; Minet, Jean-Paul; Issi, Jean-Paul (2002). "Making electrical contacts to nanowires with a thick oxide coating". Nanotechnology. 13 (5): 653–658. doi:10.1088/0957-4484/13/5/322.
  9. ↑ It is time to train atoms to do what we want. Celeste Biever, New Scientist, 30 March 2013, Volume 217 Number 2910, Page 25
  10. ↑ "Pratibha L. Gai, 2013 L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards Laureate for Europe". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-05-13.


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