NANO NEWS

2010

Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory host NSF-funded Biosensing-Bioactuation Summer Institute 2010
The Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory (MNTL) at the University of Illinois is hosting the Biosensing-Bioactuation Summer Institute 2010. Funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and National Science Council of Taiwan, the institute runs through July 23...Read more >>
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NSF Senior Advisor on Nanotechnology to be featured
at annual CNST workshop
Mihail Roco, senior advisor on nanotechnology at the National Science Foundation, will be the featured speaker at the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) Annual Nanotechnology Workshop on May 6-7. The workshop will be held at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory on the engineering campus. Interim Chancellor Robert Easter will deliver welcoming remarks....Read more >>

ECE researchers begin project to treat and prevent apple disease
ECE Professor Kyekyoon Kim and ECE Instructor/MNTL Research Professor Hyungsoo Choi are co-principal investigators on a three-year $1.95 million project from the USDA-Specialty Crop Research Initiative program to treat and eradicate fire blight..  ...Read more >>

2008

Illinois nanotechnology on display in Washington, D.C.
Irfan Ahmad, associate director for the Illinois Center for Nanoscale Science and Technnology (CNST) attended a High Tech Caucus in Nanotechnology Information and Product Display hosted by various congressmen on Capitol Hill.  ...Read more >>

Copper nanowires grown by new process create long-lasting displays
A new low-temperature, catalyst-free technique for growing copper nanowires has been developed by researchers at Illinois. The nanowires could serve as interconnects in electronic device fabrication and as electron emitters in a television-like, very thin flat-panel display known as a field-emission display.  ...Read more >>

AE professor's "briefcase" found on Space Station
To investigate the shielding effect of nanocomposites and the deterioration of their properties in space U of I researchers developed a set of polymer nanocomposite samples with various concentrations and sizes of nanoparticles. These were divided into two groups and mounted on "briefcase" modules attached to the exterior of the International Space Station.  ...Read more >>

Researchers use precision release of microspheres to deliver medicine
Water soluble, tissue-friendly hydrogels such as chitosan, starch, and gelatin are the subject of intense research surrounding their use in precision drug delivery by U of I researchers.  ...Read more >>

2007

Illinois and Pakistani Researchers Team for Cancer Cures
Researchers at Illinois are teaming up with counterparts in Pakistan to develop nanotechnologies which will identify potential cancer therapies which utilize native medicinal plants.

“The Indo-Pakistan subcontinent is rich in such remedial sources, most of which remain untouched,” explained Kenneth Watkin, co-director and lead principal investigator (PI) for the “Nanomedicine for Cancer” research project, which is being funded by the Pakistan-U.S. Science and Technology Cooperative Program.  . Read more >>

Nanomedicine may lead to cancer therapies
CHAMPAIGN, Ill., Jan. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists are working with Pakistani researchers in developing nanotechnologies to identify potential cancer therapies utilizing medicinal plants.  ...Read more >>

2006
Nanotechnology Workshop Considers How to “Get Small”
“On this campus alone, there are hundreds of nanotechnology research projects being conducted; which are likely to have profound impact on virtually all aspects of our lives in the future,” stated Irfan Ahmad, associate director of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) at Illinois. As a leader in nanotechnology research and development, the CNST will host its annual Nanotechnology Workshop 2006, on May 4-5, at .... Read more >>

Ilesanmi Adesida Interim Dean and Director Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology Inducted to 
National Academy of Engineering 
College of Engineering Interim Dean Ilesanmi Adesida and incoming University of Illinois Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Linda P.B. Katehi have been elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).

Adesida, a Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Engineering, was cited for his contributions to the nanometer-scale processing of semiconductor structures and applications in high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. He joined the Illinois faculty in ... .. Read more >>

CNST Funds Pilot Projects under its NCI Cancer Project
The University of Illinois Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST), through its newest project, the Siteman Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (SCCNE) with Washington University in St. Louis, has announced the funding of three pilot projects which began on January 15, 2006.

The SCCNE is among seven centers recently funded by the National Cancer Institute, with the goal of developing novel nanotechnology-based therapeutic delivery ...
 .. Read more >>

2005
U of I Nanotechnology to Fight Diseases
Champaign, Ill., Oct 27, 2005.
The University is among ten research universities around the world that have joined together to use nanotechnology to find cures for infectious diseases.

"It's hugely important," said Irfan Ahmad, associate director for the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology. "We've seen that (infectious diseases) have a potential to  .. Read more in Daily Illini>>

U of I Joins Global Alliance to Find Cures to Infectious Diseases
Champaign, Ill., Oct 21, 2005.
Richard Herman, chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was among the leaders of 10 research universities from around the world who gathered last week at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. to launch an international collaboration to use nanotechnology tools for global health and medical research.

“As educated citizens of the world, we have a moral obligation to use our talents and our resources to combat the diseases that are ravaging the world’s poorest countries,” Herman remarked. “Infectious diseases not only steal lives; they contribute to the spread of    Read more >>

U of I Researchers Part of Nanotechnology Research Targeting Cancer
Champaign, Ill., Oct 11, 2005.
Nanotechnology researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign are part of a multidisciplinary team addressing fundamental issues pertaining to nanomaterials and nanofabrication toward the development of nanodevices and nanotubes for targeting cancer.  “With our colleagues at .Read more >>

Expansion Project Expands University’s Leadership in Nanotechnology
Champaign, Ill., May 15, 2005.
In the very “small” world of nanotechnology, the University of Illinois is big. Its Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory (MNTL), within the College of Engineering, is one of the nation’s largest and most sophisticated university-based facilities for semiconductor, nanotechnology, and biotechnology research.

That leadership position is bound to grow due to an $18 million expansion project that paves the way for new bionanotechnology facilities and additional space for researchers.

“The money for this expansion is an integral part of a state grant to the university that is ... ..Read more >>

Workshop Highlights Big Ideas in Nanotechnology
Champaign, Ill., April 23, 2005. 
“On this campus alone, there are numerous nanotechnology projects being developed which will impact almost all aspects of our lives in the future,” stated Ilesanmi Adesida, director of the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory (MNTL) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “This is an opportunity to showcase the university’s cutting-edge research in nanoelectronics, nanodevices, nanomaterials, and bionanotechnology applications.”

Nanotechnology is defined as the study and design of systems at the nanoscale, which is in the size range of one-one billionth of a meter. As a leader in nanotechnology research and development, the MNTL and the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) will host the MNTL/CNST Nanotechnology Workshop 2005, May 5-6, at the... ..Read more >>

Breaking the Barriers: World's Fastest Transistor
Champaign, Ill., April 11, 2005.  
A new type of transistor structure, invented by scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has broken the 600 gigahertz speed barrier. The goal of a terahertz transistor for high-speed computing and communications applications could now be within reach.

The new device – built from indium phosphide and indium gallium arsenide – is designed with a compositionally graded collector, base and emitter to reduce transit time and improve current density. With their pseudomorphic heterojunction bipolar transistor, the researchers have demonstrated a speed of 604 gigahertz – the fastest transistor operation to date.

“Pseudomorphic grading of the material structure allows us to lower the bandgap in selected areas,” said Milton Feng, the Holonyak Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a researcher at the Coordinated Science Laboratory at Illinois. “This permits faster electron flow in the collector. The compositional grading of the transistor components also improves current density and signal charging time.”

Feng and graduate student Walid Hafez fabricated the new device in the university’s Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory. They describe the .... ..Read more >>

CNST, and Micro and Nanotechnology Director Adesida named Interim Dean of Engineering
Champaign, Ill., April 1, 2005.  

Ilesanmi Adesida has been named interim-dean designate of the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign pending approval of the U. of I. board of trustees.
David Daniel, the dean of the college, will remain in his position through May, before assuming his new duties as the president of the University of Texas at Dallas. Adesida, a Willett Professor of Engineering, would then formally assume the interim-dean position.  Daniel and Adesida will work together in the interim to assure an orderly transition.  “Professor Adesida brings a record of outstanding scientific and engineering.. ..Read more >>

U of I Scientists Apply Nanotechnology to Agricultural Research
Urbana, Ill., February 1, 2005.  

Scientists in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) and the College of Engineering (COE) at the University of Illinois are collaborating in research that will allow them to utilize the latest applications in nanotechnology to find solutions for some of the most pressing problems facing Illinois agriculture, including disease management.

These new research partnerships and activities are supported by.. ..Read more >>

2004

CNST-Nano-CEMMS Fall Seminar Series Announced
Urbana, Ill., September 22, 2004.  The CNST Seminar Series was inaugurated in 2001 at the inception of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The objective of the series is to facilitate cross-disciplinary dialogue among campus and other academics and students on the most recent research and development issues pertaining to various aspects of nanotechnology.  “In addition to our distinguished list of speakers, the unique aspect of this year’s series is the co-sponsorship and active participation of Nano-CEMMS and SDBC,” said Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor Yi Lu, from the Department of Chemistry and chair of the seminar series planning committee. The 2004-05 seminar series is being held jointly by the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) and the newly created, National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded, Center for Nano-CEMMS ..Read more >>

Silicon-based Photodetector is Sensitive to Ultraviolet Light
Urbana, Ill., July 21, 2004.  By depositing thin films of silicon nanoparticles on silicon substrates, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have fabricated a photodetector sensitive to ultraviolet light. Silicon-based ultraviolet sensors could prove very handy in military, security and commercial applications.  "Silicon is the most common semiconductor, but it has not been useful for detecting ultraviolet light until now," said Munir Nayfeh, a professor of physics at Illinois and a researcher at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. "Ultraviolet light is usually absorbed by silicon and converted into heat, but we found a way to make silicon devices that absorb ultraviolet light and ..Read more >>

Homeland Security Speaker Featured at CNST Nanotechnology Workshop
Urbana, Ill., May 13, 2004.  The UIUC Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology recently hosted the Nanotechnology in Homeland Security Workshop. This workshop was intended to showcase the interdisciplinary collaboration at UIUC in engineering, agriculture, biology, food sciences, information sciences and veterinary medicine that has already resulted or will soon result in technology beneficial to homeland security. Workshop sessions addressed nanotechnology and issues pertaining to:
• The Food Chain: “From the Farm to the Fork” – How nanotechnology can enable us to ..Read more >>

CNST Nanotechnology in Homeland Security Workshop
Urbana, Ill., April 29, 2004.  Nanotechnology has a large potential to assist with homeland security efforts and the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) is leading the way as a provider of the latest research and technology.  To showcase this research and other findings, the University of Illinois Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST), an initiative of the College of Engineering, is hosting the Nanotechnology in Homeland Security Workshop on May 6 -7, 2004.  Combining the unique strength of the UIUC in engineering, ..Read more >>

Nanotechnology Laboratory at UI to get more Room
January 27, 2004.  The University of Illinois lab for studying the very tiny will soon be 50 percent larger.
Nanotechnology will continue to study matter at the molecular level and life at the cellular, but the Micro and Nanotechnology Lab on the UI's Engineering Quad will be remodeled to try to keep ahead of changes in the fast-evolving ..Read more >>

New Light-Emitting Transistor could Revolutionize Electronics Industry
January 5, 2004.  Put the inventor of the light-emitting diode and the maker of the world’s fastest transistor together in a research laboratory and what kinds of bright ideas might surface? One answer is a light-emitting transistor that could revolutionize the electronics industry.

Professors Nick Holonyak Jr. and Milton Feng at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory have uncovered a light-emitting transistor that could make the transistor the fundamental element in optoelectronics as well as in electronics. The scientists report their discovery in...Read more >>

-UI Sitting on a Breakthrough- ...Read more in News Gazette>>

Novel Ultra-Clean Technique for Carbon Nanotubes
January 5, 2004.  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) researchers Peter M. Albrecht and Joseph W. Lyding have developed a novel ultra-clean deposition technique for carbon nanotubes ...Read more >>

2003

Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Nano is President's Prefix for the Day
December 3, 2003.  President Bush, with a few strokes of the pen in an Oval Office ceremony on Wednesday, created a permanent federal home for the industries and institutions in the United States that are converging on the nanoscale. ...Read more >>

Illinois researchers create world's fastest transistor ... again
 November 6, 2003.  Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have broken their own record for the world’s fastest transistor.

Their latest device, with a frequency of 509 gigahertz, is 57 gigahertz faster than their previous record, ...Read more >>

U of I Wins New Nanomanufacturing Center
NSF Funds New Research Center in M&IE

Governor Blagojevich releases $18m for remodeling and expansion of the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory  
October 13, 2003.  Gov. Rod Blagojevich approved $82 million for construction of laboratories at the University of Illinois' Urbana-Champaign and Chicago campuses on Friday at the Pine Lounge in the Illini Union. The Urbana-Champaign campus will receive $18 million of the $82 million, which will be used for the construction of the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory. ...Read more >>

New chemical process can separate, manipulate carbon nanotubes 
October 11, 2003.  All single-walled-carbon nanotubes are not created equal. Instead, they form diverse assortments that vary markedly in features such as size and electrical properties. Although carbon nanotubes have been proposed for myriad applications – from miniature motors and chemical sensors to molecule-size electronic circuits – their actual uses have been severely limited by an inability to isolate and manipulate nanotubes having different characteristics.

Now, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and ...Read more >>

One Campus-Two Nobel 2003: Anthony Legget, Physics; and Paul Lauterbur, Medicine   
October 7, 2003.  Anthony J. Leggett, a world leader in the theory of low-temperature physics and a faculty member at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, has been awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in physics. He shares the prize with Alexei A. Abrikosov of Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, Ill., and Vitaly L. Ginzburg of the Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow.

They were lauded for "pioneering contributions to the theory of superconductors and superfluids," ...Read more >>

October 6, 2003. Paul C. Lauterbur, a pioneer in the development of magnetic resonance imaging and a faculty member at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He shares the prize with Sir Peter Mansfield of the University of Nottingham in England. Mansfield was a research associate in the department of physics at Illinois from 1962-1964.

They were lauded for "seminal discoveries concerning the use of magnetic resonance to visualize different structures," ...Read more >>

Nobel Prize Winners 2003

MIT, University of Illinois, and University of California, Berkeley Lead a Group to Compete for NSF Multimillion Nanotech Program
July 15, 2003.  The National Science Foundation is hip deep in selecting a group of universities to host a sweeping nanotech research effort, the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN). Schools across the country have teamed up into various consortia vying for the project, worth as much as $140 million over the next decade. ...Read more >>

Smart Bricks could Monitor Buildings, Save Lives
June 12, 2003.  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A "smart brick" developed by scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign could monitor a building’s health and save lives.

"This innovation could change the face of the construction industry," said Chang Liu, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Illinois. "We are living with more and more smart electronics all around us, but we still live and work in fairly dumb buildings. By making our buildings smarter, we can improve both our comfort and safety."

In work performed through the university’s Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Liu and graduate student Jon Engel have combined sensor fusion, ...Read more >>

...And Pain-Saving Artificial Bone Implant Created
June 10, 2003.  URBANA, Ill. — In a unique moment of convergence, a long-distance, multi-disciplinary collaboration has resulted in an elegant solution to a painful and costly problem — how to avoid having to harvest bone from a patient to repair another site in the body.

A maxillofacial surgeon from Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, Ill., a materials scientist from the University of Illinois, computer modelers from the university’s Beckman Institute and fabricators from Sandia Lab in Albuquerque have joined together to create a precise replacement for part of a ...Read more >>

Ground broken for Post Genomic Institute
June 6, 2003.  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Post Genomic Institute, a cutting-edge facility expected to lead the nation in biological research, was launched June 5 with a groundbreaking ceremony on the Urbana campus.

Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich joined University of Illinois President James J. Stukel, Chancellor Nancy Cantor, PGI Director Harris Lewin, members of the university board of trustees and state and local officials at the groundbreaking for the facility, which is expected to put Illinois at the forefront of modern biological research and foster economic development in the state.  The $73.5 million institute being built on...

Lewin, the institute’s inaugural director, is a pioneering animal geneticist renowned for his research in comparative mammalian genomics and immunogenetics. An Illinois faculty member since 1984, Lewin founded the immunology program in the department of animal sciences. He holds the prestigious Gutgsell Endowed Chair in the College of Agricultural Consumer and Environmental Sciences and faculty appointments in the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory.

Lewin and other campus leaders will be defining the institute’s research themes and recruiting faculty members using funding from the state’s Venture Tech program. ... Read more >>

Red Hot
June 2003.  Today LEDs come in yellow, orange, green, turquoise, blue-violet, and even white. But first there was red—and first there was Nick Holonyak.

They shine from clocks and traffic lights; they blink on our car dashboards. They flash on the soles of children's running shoes; they glow from the coffeemakers in our kitchens. They tell us that our modems are connecting to our networks; they reassure us that our cellphones are on. They lit up the face of the first personal computer and the first wristwatch with an electronic display; they illuminate today's...Read more >>

New Engineering Grants Target Medical Technology
May 19, 2003.  Better diagnosis and treatment of disease is a goal of three engineering research projects to advance medical technology. The projects are focused on using nanotechnology to identifying genes, developing new carriers to stimulate precise cartilage growth and developing faster, more informative CT scans.

One of these medical advances is in nanotechnology. Nanoparticles are key to identifying disease and abnormalities in the human genome. Nano-sized fluorescent markers ... Read more >>

CNST Nanotechnology Workshop Provides Faculty, Industry Forum, May 9, 2003  
* June 20, 2003.  ECE Faculty and Students doing Big Things in Nanotechnology  
...Read more >>

* May 13, 2003.  Nanotechnology Industry Event in Champaign a Success.            
-ArcLight Illinois Coalition e-Newsletter ...Read more >>

* May 10, 2003.  UI wants nanotech dollars.  Keynote speaker stresses necessity of new technology; while speaking at the CNST Nanotechnology Workshop.         
-News Gazette, Champaign, IL ...Read more >>

* April 18, 2003.  The next generation of new ideas and products in agriculture and food, medicine and pharmaceuticals, and communications and electronics is expected to come from nanotechnology research. With about 150 faculty members working on some aspect of nanotechnology, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is positioned to become a leader in basic and applied research. The interdisciplinary potential on this campus—spanning agriculture, biotechnology, engineering, information technology, and... Read more >>

 Electron Nanodiffraction Technique offers Atomic Resolution Imaging
May 29, 2003.  A new imaging technique that uses electron diffraction waves to improve both image resolution and sensitivity to small structures has been developed by scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The technique works on the same principle as X-ray diffraction, but can record structure from a single nanostructure or macromolecule.... Read more >>

2002

 Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory Set for $18 Million Expansion
October 10, 2002.  The State of Illinois has released $18 million for expansion of the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign. Governor George Ryan made the announcement Monday, Oct. 7, at a press conference at the Beckman Institute. The funds were part of the state’s VentureTECH initiative approved by the legislature last June.

The money will be used to expand the Micro/Nano Lab by about 45,000 square feet, according to Ilesanmi Adesida, director of the laboratory and professor of electrical and computer engineering.

"The lab is a user facility for everybody on campus," he said. "We are ... Read more >>

A New Nano Center
June 17, 2002. The Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology unites nanoscale research from engineering, chemistry, physics, agriculture and other areas....Read more >> 

Small Research Big on Campus
April 5, 2002. Through the wonders of modern technology, the world is said to have gotten smaller. Correspondingly, the world of research has grown more minute, a realm where scientists and engineers now routinely work on a scale ranging from the size of small atoms to that of large molecules.

Working at the nanoscale (a nanometer is one billionth of a meter) scientists may develop chemical and biological sensors that will be far more sensitive, selective and cost-effective than conventional systems. Or they might use nanoengineering concepts to create advanced materials, structures and devices for a variety of electronic and photonic applications.

Through numerous avenues of research on nanotechnology, scientists at the University of Illinois are well poised to push back the frontiers of knowledge and make such exciting....Read more >> 

Nanopods could Create Smaller Circuits  
January 4, 2002. (UPI) -- Researchers said this week they discovered a way to manipulate the electronic properties of atomic-scale "peapods," made of carbon molecules packed inside carbon tubes only a few atoms across -- an important step towards creating radically smaller computers.  Scientists at the University of Illinois at Champaign are studying the nanopods, ... Read more >>  

2001

UI Scientists Developing Lab on a Chip for Early Warning  
December 23, 2001.  When integrated circuits got put on chips and in ever smaller arrays, we got computers you can hold in the palm of your hand, with more power than the computers that ran the Apollo moon missions.  Some University of Illinois scientists are working to do the same kind of thing with chemical and biological processes by mixing biology, chemistry, and technology at a molecular level.  Among other things, that could result in a kind of a "lab on a chip"..Read more in News Gazette article>>