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Arzu Colak

Arzu Colak

Arzu Colak

Assistant Professor
Physics

Email: acolak@clarkson.edu
Phone: 315/268-4247
Office: 204 Sci Ctr Bio Chem Wing
Mailbox: CU Box 5820
Website: www.psi-afm-lab.com

Department(s): Department of Physics, The Center for Advanced Materials Processing (CAMP)
School(s): School of Arts and Sciences
Education
Physics Ph.D. - 2013
University of Twente
Physics M.Sc. - 2006
Boğaziçi University
Physics B.Sc. - 2002
Istanbul University
Experience
Assistant Professor Clarkson University, Department of Physics, 2020-Present
Postdoctoral Researcher University of California Merced, 2018-2020
Postdoctoral Researcher Leibniz Institute for New Materials, 2016-2018
Postdoctoral Researcher Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 2013-2016
Biography

Arzu Çolak completed her B.Sc. degree in Physics at Istanbul University (Turkey), and her M.Sc. degree in Physics at Boğaziçi University (Turkey). She received her Ph.D. degree in Physics at the University of Twente (the Netherlands) in 2013. During her Ph.D. study under supervision of Prof. Harold J. W. Zandvliet and Prof. Bene Poelsema, she aimed at providing a better understanding of the factors that are of prime importance for magnitude of adhesion forces between surfaces in nanoscale with atomic force microscopy (AFM) to enable development of new lithography technologies and tools. On completion of her Ph.D. study, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie (France) under guidance of Prof. Marie-Paule Pileni, and investigated mechanical properties of three-dimensional self-assembled metal nanocrystals as promising candidates for flexible and bendable components of next generation electronics, circuits and devices. After her study in France, she moved to Germany to work with Prof. Roland Bennewitz as a postdoctoral researcher at the Nanotribology research group of the INM – Leibniz Institute for New Materials where she investigated mechanical properties of synthetic interpenetrating network (IPN) hydrogels at the length scale of cell mechanosensing with using atomic force microscopy-based single molecule force microscopy. In 2018, she started working with Prof. Mehmet Z. Baykara as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California Merced (U.S.A.) where she used atomic force microscopy to characterize structure and mechanics of early stage of biofilm formation of the medically important human fungal pathogen, Candida albicans. Since July 2020, she has conducted independent research as an Assistant Professor at the Physics department of Clarkson University (U.S.A.) in the field of surface and interface physics with scanning probe microscopy based methods.

Research Interests
  • Surface and interface physics
  • Nanotribology
  • Nanomechanics
  • Mechanobiology
  • Chemical Mechanical Planarization
Awards
  • EU Marie Curie Fellowship 2009 – 2013
Publications
  • A. Çolak, M. A. Ikeh, C. J. Nobile, M. Z. Baykara “In situ imaging of Candida albicans hyphal growth via atomic force microscopy” mSphere, 5:e00946-20 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1128/mSphere.00946-20
  • A. Çolak, B. Li, J. Blass, K. Koynov, A. Del Campo, R. Bennewitz “The mechanics of single cross-links which mediate cell attachment at a hydrogel surface” Nanoscales 11, 11596-11604 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1039/C9NR01784D
  • A. Çolak, J. Wei, I. Arfaoui, M.-P. Pileni “Coating agent-induced mechanical behavior of 3D self-assembled nanocrystals” Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 19, 23887-23897 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1039/C7CP02649H
  • S. Mourdikoudis, A. Çolak, I. Arfaoui, M.-P. Pileni “Hydrophilic gold supracrystals differing by the nanoparticle crystalline structure” J. Phys. Chem. C. 121, 10670-10680 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.6b10151.
  • A. Çolak, H. Wormeester, H. J. W. Zandvliet, B. Poelsema. “The influence of instrumental parameters on the adhesion force in a flat-on-rough contact geometry” Appl. Surf. Sci. 353, 1285-1290 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2015.07.076
  • A. Çolak, H. Wormeester, H. J. W. Zandvliet, B. Poelsema. “The influence of instrumental parameters on the adhesion force in a flat-on-flat contact geometry” Appl. Surf. Sci. 308, 106-112 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2014.04.118
  • A. Çolak, H. Wormeester, H. J. W. Zandvliet, B. Poelsema. “Surface adhesion and its dependence on surface roughness and humidity measured with a flat tip” Appl. Surf. Sci. 258, 6938-6942 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2012.03.138

Schools at Clarkson

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