The recently concluded Nanovation event held at the German Center for Research and Innovation (GCRI) had been organized together with the Academic Exchange Office of the Ruhr Universities in New York (ConRuhr) and the Center for Nanointegration Duisburg-Essen (CeNIDE).
Speakers included Axel Lorke, professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, Cherie Kagan, associate professor in the Departments of Electrical and Systems Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania, Stefan Strauf, assistant professor of Physics and Engineering Physics at the Stevens Institute of Technology, Vincent Caprio, founder and executive director of the New York NanoBusiness Alliance, Dr. Oliver Schnakenberg, deputy consul general of the Federal Republic of Germany in New York, and GCRI director, Dr. Joann Halpern. ConRuhr director and director emeritus, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Professor Dr. Rolf Kinne moderated the event.
GermanInnovation Conference on Nanotechnology
Professor Lorke said that nanotechnology was a bridge between macroscopic and quantum worlds. Two routes to the nanoscale, the top-down and bottom-up methods, made them applicable in multiple sectors. Products and systems in the top-down approach are designed in nanodimensions. In the bottom-up approach depending on the self-assembling atomic force or direct monitoring of molecules, nanostructures are developed. Components in both the instances reveal new physical properties.
According to Professor Kagan, the massive global energy problems necessitated going to the nano scale. Her paper revealed how the efficiency, cost, and long-term breakdown problems related to solar cells could be solved at the nanoscale. Nano-manipulations helped develop durable, energy-absorbing, and multi-colored solar cell materials.
Professor Strauf said that electronics processor chips are based on nanotechnology as transistors. The 22nm forms are a core component in all computer processes. The professor stated that 1GH constitutes one nanosecond. The future of electronics lies in plasmodics and combines the nanospeed of photonics with the nano-dimension of electronics.
Vincent Caprio said a science of nanotechnology community existed in the US rather than a nanotech industry. Together with limited funding and a lack of awareness, nanotechnology has not developed in the country.
Source: http://germaninnovation.org