Dr. Orlando Auciello earned his master's and doctoral degrees in physics from the Balseiro Institute at the National University of Cuyo in Argentina. Auciello has expertise in fusion energy, ferroelectric thin films found in non-volatile memories used in smart cards, and oxide films for supercapacitors. He led the team that developed the ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) thin film technology when he was a senior scientist and later a distinguished fellow at Argonne National Laboratory from 1996 to 2012. Industrial applications of UNCD coatings include mechanical water pump seals used in cars, coatings for bearings in machines that produce drugs for the pharmaceutical industry, and creating corrosion-resistant electrically conductive metals for electrodes in new-generation water purification systems. UNCD films are also used as a scaffold surface to grow stem cells. Auciello has won numerous awards for developing UNCD technology, including the R&D 100 Award in 2003, 2008, 2009 and 2011. The Argus II device that Auciello was involved in developing uses UNCD technology and was recognized by Time magazine as one of the best inventions of 2013. Another career highlight was a term served in 2013 as president of the Materials Research Society, the largest international organization of materials researchers from academia, industry and government. Auciello is co-founder, investor and advisor of Advanced Diamond Technologies Inc., which commercializes UNCD-based industrial products, and Original Biomedical Implants, which will be housed in the University's Venture Development Center.