UCLA's Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science has been granted over $35 million by the National Science Foundation's Engineering Research Center (ERC) program for carrying out a research focused on developing nano-electromagnetic devices that are as small as the size of a biological cell.
The UCLA team includes Cornell University, UC Berkeley, California State University, Northridge, and Switzerland's ETH Zurich.
The NSF-funded Translational Applications of Nanoscale Multiferroic Systems (TANMS) Center is determined to devise tiny multiferroic materials that can be operated by an electric field using the simple magnetic applications for switching the devices “on” and “off’. The innovation can be made possible with the perfect combination of electricity and magnetism and will replace the use of complex wire-based electronics.
Mr. Vijay K. Dhir, Dean of UCLA Engineering opines that things that were theoretically explored in science fiction can be made possible with the use of miniature electromagnetic devices. Greg Carman, the Director of the new Center and a UCLA Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering suggests that by combining applications such as memory, antennas, and motors, a novel technique can be formulated. The new application may result in building a remote submarine as envisioned in the 1960s movie “Fantastic Voyage.” The tiniest submarine may be as small as the size of the red blood cells that are vibrant in our blood stream.
TANMS also offers chances to high school students and college students to actively participate in the nanoresearch so that invention can be materialized and the world society is greatly benefitted.
Source: http://www.nsf.gov