2014 Nanotechnology Workshop a Great Success

From Feb. 24-25, 2014, the University of Cincinnati hosted the 2014 Nanotechnology Materials and Devices (NMD) Workshop in Tangeman University Center’s (TUC) Great Hall. The sixth NMD workshop was sponsored by the

UC Office of Research

; the

UC Nanoworld Laboratory

; the

UC College of Engineering and Applied Science

; the

University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI)

; and the

Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)

along with industrial partners. About 130 participants from seven countries—Australia, Canada, China, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and the United States—were in attendance to represent numerous government institutions, universities and industries.

The NMD workshop unofficially kicked off Feb. 23, with an informal welcome dinner at the Marriott Kingsgate Conference Center. On Monday morning, guests arrived at the TUC Great Hall and were entertained by UC student and pianist Kristen Schulz.

UC Nanoworld’s directors,

Mark Schulz

, professor in the UC College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS)

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering

, and

Vesselin Shanov

,  professor in the UC CEAS

Department of Biomedical, Chemical, and Environmental Engineering

, welcomed attendees alongside Kevin Yost of AFRL and Bang Tsao of UDRI.

Research posters lined the Great Hall for guests to take a glimpse at current and future nanotechnology efforts. Industry sponsors distributed informational fliers and advertising materials from their display tables at the entrance of the hall. Among these sponsors were

AIXTRON

;

General Nano, LLC

;

International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC)

;

Metis Design

;

Nanocomp Technologies

;

Netzsch

;

Oxford Lasers

; and

Surfx

.

Workshop guests were also given tours of the UC CEAS Engineering Research Center, Baldwin Hall and Rhodes Hall. These tours highlighted the many laboratories utilized for UC Nanoworld activities. At the conclusion of the workshop on Tuesday, Feb. 25,

Jan Schilling

gave the attendees a special event tour of the

General Electric Aircraft Engine (GEAE) Learning Center

located in Evendale, Ohio.

The two-day, intensive single track workshop consisted of five sessions of invited talks, including

1. Nanotubes, Fibers and Applications with Session Chair Noe Alvarez
2. Materials and Devices Medley with Session Chair Ajit Roy
3. Government with Session Chair Kevin Yost
4. Up and Coming New Researchers with Session Chair Vesselin Shanov
5. Industry with Session Chair Bang Tsao

These sessions covered the synthesis, functionalization, characterization, modeling, post processing and application of carbon nanostructured materials and devices. Each session featured talks by the best experts in the field of nanotechnology, including:

Dong Qian

, University of Texas at Dallas;

Fei Wei

, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China;

Alan Windle

, Cambridge University, UK;

Gleb Yushin

, Georgia Tech;

Emilie J. Siochi

, NASA Langley, Hampton, Va.;

Ana Laura Elias

, Penn State University, Pa.; and

Paul Kladitis

, UDRI.

Most of the NMD workshop speakers were contributors to Schulz and Shanov’s Elsevier book,

Nanotube Superfiber Materials: Changing Engineering Design

. The researchers edited the book, along with their colleague, Zhangzhang Yin, and it’s the first of its kind to explore the production and applications of macro-scale materials made from nano-scale particles.

The workshop benchmarked the current state of the art and developed plans for future breakthroughs in engineering materials and devices based on nanotechnology. The electronic, thermal and mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes and spun thread were of particular interest. Applications of nanotechnology and industry needs were also discussed along with strategies for commercializing nanotechnology. Additionally, the workshop successfully provided opportunities to establish cooperative research and to intersect different ideas in order to break down barriers to nanotechnology challenges.

Look for an even greater workshop to unveil more breathtaking advances two years from now!

For more information about UC and nanotechnology, please visit:

http://ceas.uc.edu/news-1314/ceas-researchers-edit-novel-nanotechology-book.html

http://ceas.uc.edu/news-1213/uc-engineers-in-nanospace.html

For more information about UC Nanoworld, please visit:

http://www.min.uc.edu/nanoworldsmart/

For more information about the UC College of Engineering and Applied Science, please visit:

http://ceas.uc.edu