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Good evening to all who are attending tonight's formal presentation. I am President

Mitchell Daniels. We at Purdue acknowledge that our faculty, students, stakeholders, and media

are taking precautions, so to those of who are joining us on our virtual platforms, thank you and

welcome. This year brought an array of challenges: economic, social, medical to name a few. It

required us to think outside the box and innovate in just about every aspect Purdue University

operates. Despite the hardships our country has endured, the endurance to break barriers is

steadfast here at Purdue. This past year, our Physics department has not only thought outside the

box but said "let's scrap this box and create a new one." They recently discovered a scientific

breakthrough with implications that will redefine the STEM horizon going forward, not just for

Purdue University but for the advancement of science itself.

The pioneer behind this breakthrough is our very own Dr. Evgenii Narimanov, theoretical

physicist and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Dr. Narimanov joined our team

in 2016 and has been pushing the envelope in the search for new answers to new problems. His

team has been hard at work creating more efficient metamaterials, to amplify the activity of

electrons, in turn, making optics exponentially higher resolution-wise in medical scanning and

scientific imaging applications. In collaboration with the University of Texas, the University of

Massachusetts Lowell, this team has harnessed the capabilities to provide transformative

education with world-changing impacts. Delivering out-of-this-world discoveries is what we do

here at Purdue. While most of us might want to put 2020 behind us, the year has taught us that

perseverance, resilience, and excellence are virtues that will drive the pursuit of discovery, even

in a time where challenges are greater. New discoveries await us on the 2021 horizon, and we

will keep pushing the envelope for the betterment of our Boilermakers and all of mankind.

Because my law degree has no concentration in nanotechnology, Dr. Narimanov will provide
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you with the details, methods, and future going forward with this discovery. Without further ado,

I'm honored to introduce to you, Dr. Evgenii Narimanov.