AFOSR Program Manager Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society Published Jan. 12, 2009 By Maria Callier Air Force Office of Scientific Research ARLINGTON, Va. -- AFOSR Program Manager, Dr. Michael Berman has been elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society "For his outstanding leadership, advocacy, and support of physical science research and for fostering and developing innovative and visionary multidisciplinary partnerships." "I was delighted to hear the news, as it showed that members of the scientific community value the contributions that AFOSR program managers make in advancing the scientific enterprise," said Berman. Berman believes the award reflects contributions he's made over the years in understanding and exploiting the dynamics of chemical reactions; developing new theories at the molecular and nanoscopic scales; and developing novel approaches to research in energetic materials with work on nanocatalysis, ionic liquids, and nanoenergetics. "I stay intimately involved in the scientific community to be aware of scientific developments and emerging opportunities. I combine this involvement with my knowledge of Air Force issues and try to find areas that are exciting scientifically and address AF needs," Berman noted. "I try to educate the academic community about AF needs, and build teams that address those opportunities," he said. He has successfully advocated for robust funding for fundamental physical sciences research, and created a basic research program that has produced breakthroughs and cutting-edge science in physics, chemistry, lasers and materials science. Berman's program is constantly creating novel, state-of-the art methods that are pushing scientific frontiers. He has a MURI program on developing attosecond pulses, unprecedented short pulses used to probe the dynamics of electrons in molecules and materials. He has helped develop the first major U.S. capability in this area. He has also pioneered the use of ultrafast electrons to probe the dynamics of nanostructures in real time. Many other methods pioneered and developed in the program have now become widely used throughout the scientific community such as cavity ring down spectroscopy, helium droplet spectroscopy and femtochemistry. He has also overseen and guided research in chemical and hybrid lasers, an area in which he owns a patent. Berman says that one of the challenges in chemistry and materials is to develop methods to understand and exploit new complex materials and processes. "We are now starting a new program to create storable fuels from solar energy to create abundant, sustainable, and secure source of fuels for Air Force systems. Once again, we will try to create teams that bring together expertise that previously has not been focused on this problem," he said. The research undertaken by Berman's AFOSR-funded scientists will lead to the development of new energetic and green propellants for aircraft and rockets; laser weapons systems for antimissile and tactical applications; hypersonics, novel sensors, fuels, materials and plasmas. Berman will be honored at the American Physical Society national meeting in Pittsburgh, Pa. in March 2009.