Vicki Colvin of Rice University will give a talk titled "Nanotechnology:
Its Promise and Challenges" at the U.S.
Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory on Thursday,
May 14, at 4 p.m. in Berkner Hall. The talk is free and open to the public.
Visitors to the Laboratory age 16 and older must carry a photo ID.
 | | Vicki Colvin
|
Nanotechnology-enabled systems, with dimensions on the scale of a billionth
of a meter, offer great promise for solving difficult social problems and creating
enormous possibilities. Their small size, high surface area, and unique properties
all provide high-value materials useful in existing industries, ranging from
transportation to pharmaceuticals. Of particular interest is the potential for
nanotechnology to treat cancer, clean water, and create clean energy technologies.
In addition to highlighting these innovations, the talk will also touch on
the emerging debate about whether consumers want or need the lifestyle that
nanotechnology may make possible. Some of these concerns are centered on the
idea that nanomaterials may be a new kind of pollutant. In particular, the "safety
by design" model emerging for nanomaterials' production may completely
change traditional concepts of risk management.
Other issues relate to larger social concerns about whether nanotechnology
could be used to enhance human performance or whether the new economies for
manufacturing would disenfranchise poor people tied to the "non-nano"
world. Healthy dialogue about these concerns can help create a more sustainable
and socially acceptable industry.
Vicki Colvin received a Bachelor's degree in chemistry and physics from
Stanford University in 1988 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of
California, Berkeley, in 1994. During her time at Berkeley, she was awarded
the American Chemical Society's Victor K. LaMer Award for her work in
colloid and surface chemistry. Colvin completed her postdoctoral work at AT&T
Labs.
In 1996, Rice University recruited Colvin to expand its nanotechnology program.
Currently, she is Rice's Kenneth S. Pitzer-Schlumberger Professor of Chemistry
and Professor of Chemical & Bimolecular Engineering. She is also co-director
of the Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology and
director of the Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology, both
Rice University institutions.
Colvin has garnered numerous awards for her teaching abilities, including Phi
Beta Kappa's Teaching Prize for 1998-1999 and the Camille Dreyfus Teacher
Scholar Award in 2002. Also in 2002, she was named one of Discover magazine's
"Top 20 Scientists to Watch," and she received an Alfred P. Sloan
Fellowship. Her research in low-field magnetic separation of nanocrystals was
named among the top five nanotech breakthroughs of 2006 by the Forbes/Wolfe
Nanotech Report and resulted in her being named "Best and Brightest"
honoree by Esquire magazine. A Fellow of the Association for the Advancement
of Science, Colvin is the author of over 75 articles and holds patents to seven
inventions.
Posted April 27th, 2009
|
