NNIN Workshops, Seminars and Conferences

NNIN Computation Symposium: Advanced Modeling and Simulation of NEMS/MEMS and Nano/Micro-fluidic Devices

University of Michigan

Aprill 19-20

Micro/Nano Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS/NEMS) and devices are poised to revolutionize communications, instrumentation, and computational systems. To date, their deployment in emerging applications in health care, environment, and industrial processing, and defense and security has been impeded by a lack of understanding of the fundamental multi-physics/multi-scale phenomena that govern their performance. Modeling and simulation of MEMS/NEMS and nano/micro-fluidic devices provide interpretive and predictive framework for understanding the complexity of interactions between various physical domains and size scales, failure mechanisms, and sensitivity to operational variations.

This Symposium brings together leading researchers in this field to review recent progress and latest developments and review future challenges in NEMS/MEMS and Micro/Nano Fluidics.

The Symposium will also be a platform:

to educate students and researchers in the NNIN user community;
for information exchange and networking for attendees from industry, academia, and software developers;
to identify primary obstacles and the breakthroughs needed to address them;
for fostering collaborations between the computational and experimental communities;
to identify simulation tools that can be easily and widely made available to the research community.

Click Here To Register

This event was initiated by researchers at the Weill-Cornell Medical College who are interested in collaborating on the design and implementation of agents for detection, therapeutics and imaging technologies for cancer biology and other fields. Interested Ithaca faculty with expertise in engineering, computation, chemistry, animal modelling, cell biology, nanofabrication and materials science also attended.

The workshop was formatted to provide quick snapshots of research interestes, needs, capabilities and models. Breakout sessions and a networking dinner provided opportunities to meet and discuss possible projects. The ideas and plans for continuing networking within this group was summarized at the end of the day. This event was organized by the Office of Intercampus Initiaitives and the Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility (CNF), and sponsored by the Weill-Cornell Department of Radiology, the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network, and The National Science Foundation.

The workshop focused on the importance of material simulations in several key areas, as the emerging applications of graphene, improving high-k oxides and metal gates for future transistors, impurity engineering in semiconductors, thermoelectric materials, fuel cells, catalysts and photonic materials. From biology the impact of implantable medical devices, the activity of the visual cortex, and the dynamics of membrane proteins were the subject of lively discussions

The “bridge” between theory and experiment and nanotechnology and biology was the central theme of the workshop, which focused on the treatment of multiple spatial and time scales discussing the computational methods which are best suited for the diverse research areas as electronic materials and protein folding.

As part of its series of Advanced Topic Workshops, NNIN held an invitation-only workshop on NNIN organized a two-day workshop on “Nano-enabled Sensing Microsystems for Geo Sciences” at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor campus on Feb 4-5 2010. The objectives of the workshop were to: (i) raise awareness and highlight opportunities for research to both nanotechnologists and geo/environmental communities, (ii) promote collaborations between the nano/microsystems community and geo/environmental community, (iii) identify short-term and long-term joint projects, and (iv) leverage on the NNIN infrastructure, tools, user base and staff expertise to enable advancement of the state of the art in geo and environment sciences. A similar workshop was held at the University of Washington in April 2008 on “Nanotechnology as an Enabler for Ocean Observatories” to identify priority areas in geo sciences.

As part of its series of Advanced Topic Workshops, NNIN held an invitation-only workshop on “Synergies in NanoScale Manufacturing and Research,”, cosponsored with the National Nanomanufacturing Network, held on the Cornell University campus January 28-29, 2010. This was a by-invitation-only working group intended to generate active discussion in the issues related to bringing emergent tools, processes, and materials into commercialization. The speakers, moderators, and attendees were selected from across the country and from industry, academia, and government labs to bring a broad range of expertise and experience to the group discussions. The workshop was sponsored jointly by the NSF’s National Nanomanufacturing Network (centered at U Mass Amherst), and the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network.

The international Winter Schools for Graduate Students (iWSG) are organized jointly by NNIN and institutions in third world countries with the goal of promoting international bridge building and understanding by bringing together students and faculty in an intense teaching and societal experience. Each year, 10 graduate students and faculty participate in a rigorous course in an emerging and research-intensive interdisciplinary direction that is not part of US graduate curriculums. This lasts six days and includes laboratory sections. This is followed by travel to a rural part of the country where students spend time observing, experiencing and discussing the societal challenges and the part science and technology can play. A large group of students from the host country participate in the teaching part and a smaller group joins in the rural experience.

Innovations in Nanotechnology for Cancer Research
A symposium organized by the Cornell NanoScale Science & Technology Facility and the National Cancer Institute
Cornell University
September 26th, 2008

Paradigm shifts in understanding biological processes often occur when "novel" techniques from outside fields are openly adopted by the research community. This one-day workshop brought together experts in cancer biology and nanotechnology to discuss problems in the clinical and basic science of cancer which nano- and micro- fabrication may be uniquely suited to address. The day showcased advances in nanotechnologies that have enabled forward strides in cancer research and treatment, and highlighted the current challenges in cancer research that nanotechnology can begin to address.

NNIN Special Workshop: Nanotechnology as an Enabler for Neuroscience, Neuroengineering and Neural Prostheses (Nano for N3)
Stanford University
December 11 - 12, 2008

Neural prostheses aim to help improve the quality of life for patients suffering from neurological disease and injury. They function by translating electrical signals from the brain (e.g., action potentials, local field potentials, ECoGs,EEGs) into control signals for guiding assistive devices. Despite considerable progress in recent years, the field actively continues to pursue increased sensor lifetime and increased system performance so that the anticipated quality-of-life improvements will clearly outweigh potential surgical risks. Despite ongoing efforts in recent years, neither sensor lifetime nor system performance have grown at a rate necessary to dramatically enable the widespread clinical translation of these systems. MEMS-based electrode arrays have had functional lifetimes of approximately one year without substantial improvement. NNIN believes that it can have a role as a facilitator in this important area.

Symposium on Nanotechnology for Public Health, Environment, and Energy
Washington University at St. Louis
September 24 - 25, 2009

The 1st Symposium on Nanotechnology for Public Health was held Thursday and Friday, Sept. 24 and 25, 2009 in the Whitaker Hall auditorium at Washington University at St. Louis. The symposium, which highlighted the opening of Washington University's nano research facility, included over 200 participants. The symposium focused on the practical issues of incorporating nanomaterials in consumer products,and an initial session addressed the consistency and cost-effectiveness of nanoparticle synthesis.Afterwards, a poster session (Fig. 27) and open house were held on the lower level of the Earth &Planetary Sciences Building.

The Commercialization of Nanotechnology
Cornell University
April 10, 2008

The workshop addressed a broad range of issues associated with the commercialization of nanotechnology, including success stories from nanotechnology ventures, an introduction to regional nanotechnology facilities, a primer on intellectual property issues, and an overview of funding opportunities with an emphasis on small business grants and venture capital.

The Future of Nanotechnology
A Celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the Cornell NanoScale Science & Technology Facility
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
June 14th, 2007

Nanotechnology - the ability to understand and control matter with ultimate precision - is the most powerful and enabling technology humankind has ever developed. Nanotechnology is used to create materials, devices and systems with fundamentally new properties and functions that will change the world as we know it.

The Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility (CNF) has been at the forefront of nanotechnology for 30 years. A facility that serves over 700 users a year, CNF has been instrumental in enabling, developing, and propagating the benefits of nanotechnology.

The Future of Nanotechnology symposium will celebrate CNF's contributions by looking into the shape of things to come. Renowned experts from around the world have been invited to share their vision of (i) the future of nanotechnology, (ii) the emerging field of nanomedicine, and (iii) the social and ethical issues associated with nanotechnology. Plenary lectures will introduce these three topics in the morning, and parallel tracks will explore these topics in detail in the afternoon. A poster session will give an opportunity to attendees to present their work.

Symposium on Organic and Thin Film Electronics
Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York
August 18, 2009

The aim of the symposium was to bring together experts on organic and thin film electronics to discuss recent advances in the field. The symposium was composed of invited presentations as well as contributed posters and presentations. Sponsored by The Society for Information Display - Mid-Atlantic Chapter and the Cornell NanoScale Science & Technology Facility