Tag Archives: Cornell Nanoscale Science and Technology Facility

$81M for US National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI)

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Academics, small business, and industry researchers are the big winners in a US National Science Foundation bonanza according to a Sept. 16, 2015 news item on Nanowerk,

To advance research in nanoscale science, engineering and technology, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will provide a total of $81 million over five years to support 16 sites and a coordinating office as part of a new National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI).

The NNCI sites will provide researchers from academia, government, and companies large and small with access to university user facilities with leading-edge fabrication and characterization tools, instrumentation, and expertise within all disciplines of nanoscale science, engineering and technology.

A Sept. 16, 2015 NSF news release provides a brief history of US nanotechnology infrastructures and describes this latest effort in slightly more detail (Note: Links have been removed),

The NNCI framework builds on the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN), which enabled major discoveries, innovations, and contributions to education and commerce for more than 10 years.

“NSF’s long-standing investments in nanotechnology infrastructure have helped the research community to make great progress by making research facilities available,” said Pramod Khargonekar, assistant director for engineering. “NNCI will serve as a nationwide backbone for nanoscale research, which will lead to continuing innovations and economic and societal benefits.”

The awards are up to five years and range from $500,000 to $1.6 million each per year. Nine of the sites have at least one regional partner institution. These 16 sites are located in 15 states and involve 27 universities across the nation.

Through a fiscal year 2016 competition, one of the newly awarded sites will be chosen to coordinate the facilities. This coordinating office will enhance the sites’ impact as a national nanotechnology infrastructure and establish a web portal to link the individual facilities’ websites to provide a unified entry point to the user community of overall capabilities, tools and instrumentation. The office will also help to coordinate and disseminate best practices for national-level education and outreach programs across sites.

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New NNCI awards:

Mid-Atlantic Nanotechnology Hub for Research, Education and Innovation, University of Pennsylvania with partner Community College of Philadelphia, principal investigator (PI): Mark Allen
Texas Nanofabrication Facility, University of Texas at Austin, PI: Sanjay Banerjee

Northwest Nanotechnology Infrastructure, University of Washington with partner Oregon State University, PI: Karl Bohringer

Southeastern Nanotechnology Infrastructure Corridor, Georgia Institute of Technology with partners North Carolina A&T State University and University of North Carolina-Greensboro, PI: Oliver Brand

Midwest Nano Infrastructure Corridor, University of  Minnesota Twin Cities with partner North Dakota State University, PI: Stephen Campbell

Montana Nanotechnology Facility, Montana State University with partner Carlton College, PI: David Dickensheets
Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental Resource,

Northwestern University with partner University of Chicago, PI: Vinayak Dravid

The Virginia Tech National Center for Earth and Environmental Nanotechnology Infrastructure, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, PI: Michael Hochella

North Carolina Research Triangle Nanotechnology Network, North Carolina State University with partners Duke University and University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, PI: Jacob Jones

San Diego Nanotechnology Infrastructure, University of California, San Diego, PI: Yu-Hwa Lo

Stanford Site, Stanford University, PI: Kathryn Moler

Cornell Nanoscale Science and Technology Facility, Cornell University, PI: Daniel Ralph

Nebraska Nanoscale Facility, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, PI: David Sellmyer

Nanotechnology Collaborative Infrastructure Southwest, Arizona State University with partners Maricopa County Community College District and Science Foundation Arizona, PI: Trevor Thornton

The Kentucky Multi-scale Manufacturing and Nano Integration Node, University of Louisville with partner University of Kentucky, PI: Kevin Walsh

The Center for Nanoscale Systems at Harvard University, Harvard University, PI: Robert Westervelt

The universities are trumpeting this latest nanotechnology funding,

NSF-funded network set to help businesses, educators pursue nanotechnology innovation (North Carolina State University, Duke University, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

Nanotech expertise earns Virginia Tech a spot in National Science Foundation network

ASU [Arizona State University] chosen to lead national nanotechnology site

UChicago, Northwestern awarded $5 million nanotechnology infrastructure grant

That is a lot of excitement.

Cornell University (New York State, US) celebrates 35 years of nanotechnology research

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The festivities at Cornell University start on July 19, 2012 according to the July 9, 2012 news item by Anne Ju for the Cornell Chronicle,

Photonics, magnetics, biotechnology and energy are just a few areas in which the Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility (CNF) has spent more than three decades connecting the brightest researchers with the best tools and expertise to make their scientific ideas real.

On July 19, CNF will celebrate its storied history of cutting-edge nanoscience research and discovery at its 35th anniversary and annual meeting.

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Speakers will include Michal Lipson, professor of electrical and computer engineering, who will talk about manipulating light on a chip; and Jordan Katine, of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies and former Cornell postdoctoral associate, who will describe promising methods for making nanoscale magnetic devices.

The event’s keynote speaker will be William Brinkman, director of the Office of Science in the U.S. Department of Energy, who will address “Whither Nanoscience?”

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Over the years, thanks in part to CNF, Cornell has helped “nanotechnology” become a household word: In 1997, a Cornell student used electron beam lithography to etch a red blood cell-sized guitar onto a silicon chip, a feat that garnered worldwide attention.

Cornell and CNF have stayed on the leading edge of nanoscale science. For example, in the last year, a low-pressure chemical vapor deposition machine for making graphene and carbon nanotubes was purchased through a grant, said Donald Tennant, CNF director of operations.

More than 700 researchers use CNF every year, and about half come from outside Cornell. A key goal of CNF is to have a low-overhead, open-access operating model and to level the playing field for researchers with limited resources, Tennant said.

You can find out more about the July 19, 2012 CNF event here. As for an opening address titled, Whither nanoscience? Doesn’t the word ‘whither’ give the address an old-fashioned flavour, something from the 19th century or perhaps from the bible (Whither thou goest, I will go [Ruth to Naomi])?

Meanwhile, on  July 20, 2012 there will be a special media briefing by Cornell and Stanford University (California) nanoscience researchers, from the July 13, 2012 news item on the Nanotechnology Now website,

On Friday, July 20, from 10 to 11 a.m. [EST], a special panel of nantechnology researchers will gather at Cornell University and explore the future of nanoscience during an interactive conversation with members of the media – both on site in Ithaca and online from anywhere in the world via WebEx technology.

Joining journalists for the discussion will be:

  • Juan Hinestroza, an associate professor fiber science, directs the Textiles Nanotechnology Laboratory at Cornell’s College of Human Ecology. His research on understanding fundamental phenomena at the nanoscale that are relevant to fiber and polymer science, has led to breakthrough “multifunctional fibers” that can hold or change color, conduct and sense micro-electrical currents, and selectively filter toxic gasses.
  •  ….

Media members are invited to take part, in person or online. To do so, please RSVP to John Carberry in Cornell’s Press Relations Office at 607-255-5353 or johncarberry@cornell.edu.

I last mentioned Juan Hinestroza in connection with work done by his students at Cornell University with textiles that give protection from malaria in a May 15, 2012 posting.