Assistant Professor Micky Holcomb joins the Department

Originally from a small farming community in Kentucky, Dr. Micky
Holcomb has recently moved to WVU from the University of California,
Berkeley. At Berkeley, she investigated a certain class of materials
called multiferroics that show promising device applications,
particularly for future computers. In these materials, one can change
magnetic fields with electric fields or vice versa. Current computers
use magnetic domains for the 0’s and 1’s for information storage and
communication. These domains are changed by magnetic fields. The issue
is that the large magnetic fields that are required to change these
progressively smaller and smaller bits require a lot of power, are
slow, and are hard to localize. If one can use electric fields
instead, we do not have all of these problems and could therefore
possibly make smaller, faster, more energy efficient devices.

Micky Holcomb will expand upon this research by studying complex
oxides surfaces and interfaces. In addition, Micky is looking forward
to developing mentoring connections between faculty and students at
many levels. By grouping students of many ages, younger students can
learn from slightly advanced peers and older students can develop
mentoring skills. Mentoring has proven to improve interest and skills
in scientific areas for both the mentor and the mentored.