A high-profile consortium of nanotechnology research centers, of which Cornell
is a founding member, has received a five-year renewal grant from the National
Science Foundation (NSF) in the amount of $17 million per year.
With the renewal -- a 20 percent increase over the previous grant -- the National
Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN) entered its second five-year term
on March 1. Led by Sandip Tiwari, Cornell's Charles Mellowes Professor in Engineering,
NNIN provides researchers with cutting-edge facilities and support in nanoscale
fabrication, synthesis, characterization, modeling, design, computation and
training.
As previously announced, NNIN's Cornell home, the Cornell NanoScale Science
and Technology Facility, was also renewed by the NSF for $2.68 million per year.
The NNIN is a network of open resources, connecting researchers with knowledge
developed by others and with expensive and time-consuming tools. Its open-access,
low-overhead structure has become a model used around the world, according to
Tiwari.
"It has been immensely successful and continues to have a major impact
on the nation's research, development and education enterprise through a dynamic
evolution that keeps it positioned at the frontiers of science and engineering,"
Tiwari said.
The NNIN also emphasizes education of the public, workforce and students at
all levels as "critical to open propagation of knowledge and skills, and
an educated, societal adoption of nanotechnology development, the societal adoption
of nanotechnology development," Tiwari said. Among these efforts is a summer
program called Research Experience for Undergraduates, as well as workshops
and short courses in technical areas of research held at different sites.
During the new term, three new institutions will join the network, bringing
the membership to 14. They are:
- The University of Colorado, which will focus on research in energy-related
problems and in precision sciences, which includes measurements, standards
and systems;
- Arizona State University, where researchers will work particularly on organic/inorganic
interfaces in electronics, biodesign, implantable devices, flexible electronics
and sensors. The university will also emphasize outreach to underrepresented
communities in the southwest;
- Washington University in St. Louis, a leading medical and public health
institution, whose research focus will be on nanomaterials and nanosciences
for health and the environment.
Over the past five years, thousands of Ph.D. students have graduated using
NNIN's resources, according to Tiwari, and the network now has nearly 5,000
advanced users from academia, industry and federal and state laboratories. It
also serves about 350 private companies.
Posted March 9th, 2009
