Viewbook - (Page 21) Diandra Leslie-Pelecky An expert on condensed matter physics and nanotechnology, Diandra Leslie-Pelecky is literally driven to make the study of science relevant and fun. She wrote the book The Physics of NASCAR, which explains the science behind the popular sport. The book is based on her extensive access to race shops, pit crews, crew chiefs and mechanics, and her own experience driving at Texas Motor Speedway. “Driving a stock car is nothing like driving a street car really fast,” Leslie-Pelecky says. “A car moving at 180 mph in a straight line will keep moving at 180 mph in a straight line; that’s the law of inertia. But a NASCAR race is a long series of left turns, and that’s where the race is won or lost. A good, high-speed turn is a balance of three forces acting at once and constantly changing. Too much or too little of any force will lead to disaster.” Away from the race track and back in the lab, LesliePelecky focuses on research in biomedical nanomaterials. She’s currently exploring magnetic nanoparticles that can “stick” to cancer tumors for a bull’s-eye delivery of chemotherapy directly to the tumor instead of the more invasive treatments used now. Nanotechnology, often referred to as “small science,” sandth the diameter of a human hair. Leslie-Pelecky earned her Ph.D. in condensed matter physics from Michigan State University. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation, among others. Diandra Leslie-Pelecky is professor of physics in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. She has been widely published based on her academic research. In addition to making new discoveries – both on the race track and off – she is actively involved with initiatives aimed at improving student achievement in math, science and engineering. The University of Texas at Dallas Faculty Profile 19 involves work with materials that are about one-thou-
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.