New UF Institute To Focus On Emerging Field Of Nanotechnology

January 11, 2001

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida has created a new institute dedicated to research in nanoscience and nanotechnology, an area that is expected to open new frontiers in medicine, computing, electronic devices and energy storage.

The universitywide Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology will receive $6 million from the UF Research Foundation and $2 million from the colleges of Engineering and Liberal Arts and Sciences. It will report to UF Vice President for Research Win Phillips.

“Like molecular biology or information technology, nanotechnology will raise our technological capabilities to a new level, improving health care, increasing our standard of living and driving further economic expansion,” Phillips said. “UF has the right ingredients to become a leader in this area, and the Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology is a first step toward this goal.”

Broadly defined, nanoscience deals with phenomena that occur on the scale of individual atoms. It gets its name from a nanometer, which is one-billionth of a meter, or three to five atoms across. A related technology, microelectromechanical systems, or MEMS, refers to mechanical or information machines that are slightly larger — the size of molecules or microscopic materials.

Because they are so precise, nano and MEMS devices are predicted to lead to developments such as microscopic supercomputers, efficient solar cells and ultra-strong materials. In medicine, the technology is said to promise, say, tiny injectable chemical devices that seek out and destroy diseased cells in a process reminiscent of science fiction’s “Fantastic Voyage.” Although such applications are years away, MEMS devices already are used widely in airbags, computer printers and blood pressure monitoring devices.

With at least 60 faculty members and 100 graduate students engaged in nanotechnology or nanoscience, UF is already heavily involved in the field. Additionally, the UF College of Engineering has an agreement with Sandia National Laboratories to promote collaborative research and development in nanoscience and nanotechnology.

But to remain at the forefront and compete for an estimated $1 billion in federal funds in the area, UF researchers needs more space and equipment, officials say. Because nanotechnology requires expertise in many disciplines, researchers also need a centralized organization to bring them together.

“There may be a chemist and a materials scientist who are working on similar problems, but they don’t know each other. The institute will help us find out who those people are and match them up,” said Mark Law, a UF electrical and computer engineering professor who will co-direct the institute with Chris Stanton, professor and chairman of the UF physics department.

One focus of the institute will be combining UF’s strengths in nanoengineering and biomedicine, said Neil Sullivan, interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Science.

“We have the engineering and science expertise to probe the function of structures at the nanometer scale and the medical expertise to create ultrasmall biological structures,” Sullivan said. “We can be unique in the nation if we can bring these two elements together.”

Early this year, UF proposed the Multidisciplinary Nanosystems Facility in the state’s capital improvement program. However, it may be 5 to 8 years before the 90,000-square-foot building is a reality, and officials decided that $8 million was needed to bridge the gap. The money will be used for equipment, facilities and to support research.

“We have a unique opportunity to become a major national player in nanotechnology development,” said Jack Ohanian, interim engineering dean. “We need to create significant momentum while the field is still emerging.”

Because the devices are so small, one of the biggest challenges in nanoscience is manufacturing. UF officials expect the initiative to spur research from the design all the way through the fabrication phase, said Paul Thompson, associate dean of engineering and interim associate vice president of research and graduate programs.

“Fabrication technology is the real challenge and will be one of our key areas of emphasis,” Thompson said.