Work on self-assembling nanostructures for solar energy collection has earned Brookhaven National Laboratory physicist Charles T. Black an “Inventor of the Year” award. The awards are presented by Battelle, which, together with Stony Brook University, manages Brookhaven. Black is a group leader at Brookhaven's Center for Functional Nanomaterials, where his goal is to direct and harness the tendency of certain materials to self-organize into nanoscale patterns for improving the performance of solar cells. “Scientific research has always been a creative outlet that lets me use my imagination,” Black said. “I enjoy exploring new ideas for finding solutions to challenging problems.” Black earned a doctorate in physics from Harvard University in 1996, and began his career as a research staff member at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center. He joined Brookhaven in 2006. His inventions include electronic devices and electrical contact designs, photovoltaic materials and structures, nanostructured surfaces exhibiting extreme water repellency and broadband anti-reflectivity, as well as unique tools that enable quantitative analysis of nanostructures. While working at IBM, Black helped develop self-assembly to assist in fabricating high-performance semiconductor devices for microelectronics. Black is a fellow of the American Physical Society and a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He has authored more than 100 scientific papers, holds more than 40 patents and has been recognized with numerous research awards. The Center for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven National Laboratory is one of the five DOE nanoscale science research centers. The others are at Argonne, Lawrence Berkeley, Oak Ridge, Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories. For more information, visit www.bnl.gov