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Sérgio Mascarenhas de Oliveira

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Sérgio Mascarenhas de Oliveira, a noted Brazilian experimental physicist, educator and scientific leader

Sérgio Mascarenhas de Oliveira (May 2, 1928 — May 31, 2021[1]) was a Brazilian experimental physicist, educator and scientific leader. He was awarded several prizes including the Brazilian Order of Scientific Merit in the categories of Commander[2] and Great Cross,[3] the Conrado Wessel Prize for General Science,[4] the Joaquim da Costa Ribeiro Prize[5] and the Guggenheim Fellowship.[6]

His main contributions to science were new observations of the thermo-dielectric effect;[7] the discovery of bioelectrets, i.e. electrets as a property of biological materials such as bone and biopolymers, enabling the development of a new detector used in radiological dosimetry to date human bones in archeological sites;[8] and the development of a non-invasive procedure to measure intracranial pressure.[9][10]

Mascarenhas contributed to the creation of important Brazilian research institutions, such as the farming instrumentation center of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation and the Federal University of São Carlos.[11]

Early life

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Mascarenhas was born in Rio de Janeiro, and obtained his degree in chemistry in 1951 from Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and in Physics in 1952 from the Rio de Janeiro State University.

He was a visiting scholar in many universities around the world, including Carnegie Mellon, Princeton, Harvard, MIT and University of London.[12]

Federal University of São Carlos

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Sérgio Mascarenhas played a major role in the establishment of the Federal University of São Carlos. Back in 1968, when the idea of creating the first federal university in São Paulo state came up, Mascarenhas proposed the creation of an innovative university instead of a traditional one[7] (Mascarenhas had moved from Rio de Janeiro to São Carlos looking for more research opportunities in solid-state physics[13]). The Federal University of São Carlos was then established with that vision in mind and Mascarenhas was appointed the university's first rector, where he helped to create the materials engineering degree, the first of its kind in Latin America.[14][15]

He died in Ribeirão Preto.

Bibliography

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  • MASCARENHAS, S. 1971. Bipole centers and optical absorption in CaF:Ce. Physical Review Letters., vol. 24, p. 98-100.
  • MASCARENHAS, S. 1973. Electron spin resonance dosimetry of bones from the Hiroshima atomic bomb site. Bull. Am. Phys. Soc., vol. 18, p. 579.
  • MASCARENHAS, S. 1974. The electret effect in bone and biopolymers and the bound water problem. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., vol. 238, p. 36-52.
  • MASCARENHAS, S. 1979. Bioelectrets: electrets in biomaterials and biopolymers. Electrets - Topics in Applied Physics., vol. 33, p. 341-346. Springer-Verlag
  • MASCARENHAS, S. 1982. Electron spin resonance dating of human bones from Brazilian shell-mounds (Sambaquis). American Journal of Physical Anthropology., vol. 159, p. 413-417.
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  • Biography. Inductees of the Order of Scientific Merit, Ministry of Science and Technology (in Portuguese)
  1. ^ Morre o físico Sérgio Mascarenhas, fundador da UFSCar e da Embrapa de São Carlos (in Portuguese)
  2. ^ "MCTIC". www.mctic.gov.br. Retrieved 2019-10-22.
  3. ^ "MCTIC". www.mctic.gov.br. Retrieved 2019-10-22.
  4. ^ "Fundação Conrado Wessel - melhor visualizar em 1024x768". www.fcw.org.br. Retrieved 2019-10-22.
  5. ^ "Sérgio Mascarenhas ganha Prêmio Joaquim da Costa Ribeiro 2019". www.sbfisica.org.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2019-10-22.
  6. ^ "John Simon Guggenheim Foundation | Sergio Mascarenhas Oliveira". Retrieved 2019-10-21.
  7. ^ a b "Sérgio Mascarenhas: Physics in the current world | Revista Pesquisa Fapesp". revistapesquisa.fapesp.br. Retrieved 2019-10-22.
  8. ^ Mascarenhas, S. (1987), "Bioelectrets : Electrets in biomaterials and biopolymers", in Sessler, Gerhard M. (ed.), Electrets, Topics in Applied Physics, vol. 33, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 321–346, doi:10.1007/3540173358_14, ISBN 9783540707509
  9. ^ Globonews | Especial inovação na saúde (legendado), retrieved 2019-10-22
  10. ^ "Ele tem 90 anos, uma startup e vários projetos pela frente". vogue.globo.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2019-10-22.
  11. ^ "Fundador da UFSCar e da Embrapa de São Carlos, Sérgio Mascarenhas teme o futuro da ciência no Brasil". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). 21 September 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-22.
  12. ^ "SBPMat´s community people: interview with the scientist Sergio Mascarenhas. – SBPMat – Sociedade Brasileira de Pesquisa em Materiais". Retrieved 2019-10-22.
  13. ^ Especial com o cientista Sérgio Mascarenhas - Brasilianas.org episódio (26/03/2012), archived from the original on 2021-12-15, retrieved 2019-10-21
  14. ^ "SEMa". sema.dema.ufscar.br. Retrieved 2019-10-21.
  15. ^ "20th anniversary of the establishment of the São Carlos Institute of Physics, and six decades participating in the history of Materials research in Brazil. – SBPMat – Sociedade Brasileira de Pesquisa em Materiais". Retrieved 2019-10-22.
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