URI_Research_Magazine_Momentum_Spring_2019_Melissa-McCarthy

Platek holds the responsibility for

maintaining million- dollar instruments, including a surface analyzer, scanning electron microscope and sputtering machines that must run all the time, are complex to operate, and need constant attention.

Electrical Materials Engineer Michael Platek and Professor Otto Gregory.

“Mike wears many hats,” says Gregory, distinguished professor of chemical engineering. “We can’t afford a service contract for the equipment, and that means that if something goes wrong with them, he fixes it. But Mike also runs the analyses, trains students on the use of the equipment, oversees student projects, and he’s on every research team I have.” Platek does similar work for outside companies who pay to use the equipment for their own research programs, ensuring that the cost center operates efficiently and effectively. “My research couldn’t happen without Mike,” concludes Gregory. “He’s sometimes a co-author on papers, sometimes a co-inventor on my patents, and he’s always a critical member of my research team. He does it all.”

Michael Platek Electrical Materials Engineer, Sensors and Surface Technology Partnership Professor Otto Gregory is working to create sensors to detect explosives for the Department of Homeland Security, sensors to detect degrading parts in the hottest sections of jet engines, and sensors that the Department of Defense hopes will allow drones to fly into difficult environments to sniff out whether the area contains dangerous materials, among many other projects. None of these activities could succeed without the critical help of Michael Platek. An electrical materials engineer in the URI Department of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering, Platek also serves as the laboratory manager for the College of Engineering’s Sensors and Surface Technology Partnership, which Gregory directs. Platek holds the responsibility for maintaining million-dollar instruments, including a surface analyzer, scanning electron microscope and sputtering machines that must run all the time, are complex to operate, and need constant attention. “Mike also runs the analyses, trains students on the use of the equipment, oversees student projects, and he’s on every research team I have. “ - Otto Gregory

URI undergraduate students Noah Burke, Jared Weigler, Gregory, Alyssa Kelly, Platek, and Peter Ricci.

Spring 2019 | 29 |