Tag Archives: Karl Böhringer

University of Washington (state) is accelerating nanoscale research with Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems

A December 5, 2017 news item on Nanowerk announced a new research institute at the University of Washington (state),

The University of Washington [UW} has launched a new institute aimed at accelerating research at the nanoscale: the Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems, or NanoES. Housed in a new, multimillion-dollar facility on the UW’s Seattle campus, the institute will pursue impactful advancements in a variety of disciplines — including energy, materials science, computation and medicine. Yet these advancements will be at a technological scale a thousand times smaller than the width of a human hair.

The institute was launched at a reception Dec. 4 [2017] at its headquarters in the $87.8-million Nano Engineering and Sciences Building. During the event, speakers including UW officials and NanoES partners celebrated the NanoES mission to capitalize on the university’s strong record of research at the nanoscale and engage partners in industry at the onset of new projects.

A December 5, 2017 UW news release, which originated the news item, somewhat clarifies the declarations in the two excerpted paragraphs in the above,

The vision of the NanoES, which is part of the UW’s College of Engineering, is to act as a magnet for researchers in nanoscale science and engineering, with a focus on enabling industry partnership and entrepreneurship at the earliest stages of research projects. According to Karl Böhringer, director of the NanoES and a UW professor of electrical engineering and bioengineering, this unique approach will hasten the development of solutions to the field’s most pressing challenges: the manufacturing of scalable, high-yield nano-engineered systems for applications in information processing, energy, health and interconnected life.

“The University of Washington is well known for its expertise in nanoscale materials, processing, physics and biology — as well as its cutting-edge nanofabrication, characterization and testing facilities,” said Böhringer, who stepped down as director of the UW-based Washington Nanofabrication Facility to lead the NanoES. “NanoES will build on these strengths, bringing together people, tools and opportunities to develop nanoscale devices and systems.”

The centerpiece of the NanoES is its headquarters, the Nano Engineering and Sciences Building. The building houses 90,300 square feet of research and learning space, and was funded largely by the College of Engineering and Sound Transit. It contains an active learning classroom, a teaching laboratory and a 3,000-square-foot common area designed expressly to promote the sharing and exchanging of ideas. The remainder includes “incubator-style” office space and more than 40,000 square feet of flexible multipurpose laboratory and instrumentation space. The building’s location and design elements are intended to limit vibrations and electromagnetic interference so it can house sensitive experiments.

NanoES will house research in nanotechnology fields that hold promise for high impact, such as:

  • Augmented humanity, which includes technology to both aid and replace human capability in a way that joins user and machine as one – and foresees portable, wearable, implantable and networked technology for applications such as personalized medical care, among others.
  • Integrated photonics, which ranges from single-photon sensors for health care diagnostic tests to large-scale, integrated networks of photonic devices.
  • Scalable nanomanufacturing, which aims to develop low-cost, high-volume manufacturing processes. These would translate device prototypes constructed in research laboratories into system- and network-level nanomanufacturing methods for applications ranging from the 3-D printing of cell and tissue scaffolds to ultrathin solar cells.

A ribbon cutting ceremony.

Cutting the ribbon for the NanoES on Dec. 4. Left-to-right: Karl Böhringer, director of the NanoES and a UW professor of electrical engineering and bioengineering; Nena Golubovic, physical sciences director for IP Group; Mike Bragg, Dean of the UW College of Engineering; Jevne Micheau-Cunningham, deputy director of the NanoES.Kathryn Sauber/University of Washington

Collaborations with other UW-based institutions will provide additional resources for the NanoES. Endeavors in scalable nanomanufacturing, for example, will rely on the roll-to-roll processing facility at the UW Clean Energy Institute‘s Washington Clean Energy Testbeds or on advanced surface characterization capabilities at the Molecular Analysis Facility. In addition, the Washington Nanofabrication Facility recently completed a three-year, $37 million upgrade to raise it to an ISO Class 5 nanofabrication facility.

UW faculty and outside collaborators will build new research programs in the Nano Engineering and Sciences Building. Eric Klavins, a UW professor of electrical engineering, recently moved part of his synthetic biology research team to the building, adjacent to his collaborators in the Molecular Engineering & Sciences Institute and the Institute for Protein Design.

“We are extremely excited about the interdisciplinary and collaborative potential of the new space,” said Klavins.

The NanoES also has already produced its first spin-out company, Tunoptix, which was co-founded by Böhringer and recently received startup funding from IP Group, a U.K.-based venture capital firm.

“IP Group is very excited to work with the University of Washington,” said Nena Golubovic, physical sciences director for IP Group. “We are looking forward to the new collaborations and developments in science and technology that will grow from this new partnership.”

A woman speaking at a podium.

Nena Golubovic, physical sciences director for IP Group, delivering remarks at the Dec. 4 opening of NanoES.Kathryn Sauber/University of Washington

“We are eager to work with our partners at the IP Group to bring our technology to the market, and we appreciate their vision and investment in the NanoES Integrated Photonics Initiative,” said Tunoptix entrepreneurial lead Mike Robinson. “NanoES was the ideal environment in which to start our company.”

The NanoES leaders hope to forge similar partnerships with researchers, investors and industry leaders to develop technologies for portable, wearable, implantable and networked nanotechnologies for personalized medical care, a more efficient interconnected life and interconnected mobility. In addition to expertise, personnel and state-of-the-art research space and equipment, the NanoES will provide training, research support and key connections to capital and corporate partners.

“We believe this unique approach is the best way to drive innovations from idea to fabrication to scale-up and testing,” said Böhringer. “Some of the most promising solutions to these huge challenges are rooted in nanotechnology.”

The NanoES is supported by funds from the College of Engineering and the National Science Foundation, as well as capital investments from investors and industry partners.

You can find out more about Nano ES here.

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

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.

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.

Joint Simon Fraser University-IEEE nanotechnology May 2012 colloquium adds extra day by popular demand

Organizers had so many speakers lining up for the May 4, 2012 mini colloquium being held by Simon Fraser University (Vancouver, Canada) and the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Electron Devices Society (EDS) they added a second day to be held on May 11, 2012.

The times, location, and agenda for the May 4, 2012 event, from the May 2012 issue of the IEEE Vancouver Contact newsletter p. 5,

8:00 – 17:00 IRMACS Theater (Rm10900) and Atrium, Applied Sciences Building, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada (http://www.irmacs.sfu.ca/about/visitors/getting-to-sfu)

Rationale: This [colloquium] attempts to draw experts from multiple areas of interest to EDS (http://eds.ieee.org/field-of-interest.html) to stimulate discussion in how all our areas can work together toward further integration of micro/nanosystems. In addition to individual lectures, a panel discussion at the end of the day will bring together the speakers with the audience to provide insight and lively discussion on the future of integrated micro/nanosystems.

Agenda

8.00 Light breakfast

8:30 MC opening by Prof. Norbert Haunerland, Associate Vice-President, Research

8.45 Distinguished Lecture #1: Juin Liou, “Outlook and Challenges in Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Protection of Modern and Future Integrated Circuits”

9:45 Invited Lecture #1: Bruce Darling, “High Temperature (0-250 C) On-Chip Temperature Sensors and Voltage References”

10:45 Coffee break

11:00 Distinguished Lecture #2: Meyya Meyyapapan, “Nanotechnology: Development of Practical Systems and Applications”

12:00 Invited Lecture #2: Karl Böhringer, “Heterogeneous Microsystem Integration with Self-Assembly”

13:00 Lunch break co-sponsored by SFU Faculty of Applied Sciences Dean’s Office

14:00 Distinguished Lecturer #3: Durga Misra, “High-K Dielectrics for Nanoscale CMOS Devices”

15:00 Invited Lecture #3: Mu Chiao, “”A Magnetically Controlled MEMS Drug Device”

16:00 Coffee break

16:15 Panel Discussion

16:55 Closing remarks and adjourn

The times, location, and agenda for the May 11, 2012 colloquium, from the May 2012 newsletter p. 11,

10:30 – 15:00 4D LABS, Seminar Room SSB 7172, South Sciences Building,

Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada. …

10:30 Coffee and Snacks sponsored by 4-D Labs SFU, IEEE Electron Devices Society (EDS), School of Engineering Science

10:45 Special Talk Series Opening by Prof. John Jones, Director, School of Engineering Science

11:00 Invited Lecture #1: Prof. Vijay K. Varadan: Nano-Sensors. E-Bra. Printable Electronics and Smart Devices for Point Of Healthcare

11:50 Invited Lecture #2: Prof. Anja Boisen: Miniaturized cantilever-like sensors

12:40 Lunch break sponsored by IEEE Electron Devices Society (EDS), 4-D Labs SFU, School of Engineering Science Distinguished

13:30 Lecturer #3: Prof. Peter J. Hesketh: Microcantiliver Sensors Using Metal Organic Framework Films and Ultra-Low Micro-bridge Gas

14:20- 15:00 Discussions, Closing Remarks and Adjourn

The newsletter features more substantive descriptions of the topics and the speakers while the April 30, 2012 SFU news release features some comments from one of the organizers describing the event and who might be interested in attending,

Bonnie Gray, associate professor in SFU’s school of engineering science, says the colloquia will provide very applicable, every day information on nanotechnology’s real-world use.

“I can see all talks being of interest to people who want to know more about what the important considerations in the microchip technology are. [It] forms the basis for our entire electronics industry and the plethora of different sensors used in our everyday lives,” she says.

She adds that while many of the lectures will feature subjects of broad appeal (such as drug delivery and air quality monitoring), the final open panel discussion could have the widest audience appeal.

“I expect the talks to be most interesting to those in science and applied science, and some for health science, but I can see the panel especially being of interest to [those dealing with] technology policy, as well.”

If you do want to attend, I suggest contacting Bonnie Gray at bgray@sfu.ca  as I was not able to access  the event registration page on the Vancouver IEEE website.