Conference Home Invited Talks

We are very pleased to present the following invited talks at the Nanotechnology Conference. Check the program for the full conference schedule. For keynote speaker information, see the keynote page.

The advanced program is also available as an 8.5"x11" one-page flyer PDF file.

	Technical Track A: Nanotechnology, Robotics, and Sensors Chair: Doug Czinder
2:30pm - 3:00pm	Bruce Emaus Applying Small Area Networking to Nano Communications Bruce Emaus President, Vector-Cantech Nano-communication technology is emerging as an essential component of the nanotechnology landscape. Used to interconnect tiny intelligent nano-nodes, including nano-sensors, nano-actuators, and nano-machines, as well as provide a conduit back up to the macro world, nano-communications will likely be based on the same basic principles of small area networking used by countless distributed embedded systems including automotive. This presentation highlights many of the key principles of small area networking that will become the foundation of nano-communications.
3:00pm - 3:30pm	Prof. Lixin Dong NanoRobotic Systems and Nanomanufacturing Prof. Lixin Dong Electrical & Computer Engineering Michigan State University Progress in robotics over the past years has dramatically extended our ability to explore the world from perception, cognition and manipulation perspectives at scales down to individual atoms. Technology has been moving toward greater control of the structure of matter, suggesting the feasibility of achieving thorough control of the molecular structure of matter atom by atom. Nanorobotics represents the next stage in miniaturization for maneuvering nanoscale objects. Nanorobotics is the study of robotics at the nanometer scale, and includes robots that are nanoscale in size and large robots capable of manipulating objects that have dimensions in the nanoscale range with nanometer resolution.
3:30pm - 4:00pm	Prof. Jay Guo High Speed Fabrication of Nanostructures by Roll-to-Roll Processes Prof. Jay Guo Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, University of Michigan The ability of micro- to nanometer-scale patterning on flexible substrates can enable many new applications in the area of photonics and organic electronics. A major roadblock is the throughput of nanopattern replication and the associated cost issues. Emerging technologies for high-throughput and high resolution nanometer-scale patterning will be discussed. The concept of roller imprinting has been pursued by previous investigators as a means to improve speed. The motivation of this work is to enable continuous printing of nanostructures on a flexible web with drastically increased throughput. The roll-to-roll nanoimprint technology will be discussed in this presentation.
4:00pm - 4:30pm	Prof. Cindy Harnett Integrating Nanotechnology Into Sensors, Lab-on-chip Systems and Other Electronic Devices Prof. Cindy Harnett Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of Louisville, Chair Nanotechnology Committee, IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Society Nanomaterials offer the enticing prospect of controlling the surface properties of microfabricated electronic devices at the sub-micron scale without nanoscale lithography. Because the term "nanomaterials" can mean different things to different researchers, this topic will be presented through three general categories of nanomaterials: chemicals applied in the liquid phase, structured nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes, and thin films with engineered properties. Examples include: Aligning liquid crystals in displays, polarizers, sensors and other applications using self-assembled monolayer control surfaces. Integrating carbon nanotubes with microfabricated electrodes for impedance-based chemical sensing in "lab on chip" systems. Applying thin films with engineered stress for self-assembled three-dimensional electrodes, actuators and resonators (the "nano-origami" concept). This presentation introduces engineers to some of the available materials, techniques, equipment and motivations for integrating nanotechnology into existing and future electronic devices. Cindy Harnett is currently an assistant professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Louisville. Her research group works in the area of sensors and smart materials, producing new functionality through three-dimensional arrangements of insulators, conductors, sensors, and actuators from the nano to macro scale. The Ph.D., Masters, and undergraduate student researchers investigate nanomaterial-based chemical sensor elements, microfluidic sensors, microfabricated resonant structures for sensing and data transmission, and calibration systems for retrieving accurate sensor data. Previously, Cindy worked for four years at Sandia National Laboratories (California) in microfluidics and "lab-on-a-chip" systems, after a one-year postdoc at Cornell developing materials for nanolithography. Cindy received a Ph.D. in 2000 from Cornell University in Applied and Engineering Physics, in the research area of micro- and nanofabricated devices, and a BS in physics from Harvey Mudd College in California. She is the recipient of a NSF CAREER award in the area of wireless environmental sensors, and currently has about 50 research contributions, including journal publications, research presentations, patents and conference proceedings. She regularly teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in electromagnetics and numerical analysis software (MATLAB) at the University of Louisville, with a new Microfluidics graduate course slated for spring 2010. Service activities include reviewing manuscripts (IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, Lab-on-a-Chip, Langmuir, and Biosensors and Bioelectronics) and proposals (U.S. National Science Foundation). She is the Technical Committee Chair of TC-34, Nanotechnology in Information and Measurement, in the IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Society (IMS) and contributed a tutorial on wireless networks in environmental measurements at the annual IMS conference in 2009.
4:30pm - 5:00pm	Prof. Ji Chen Developing nano-scale structures for EMC/EMI Dr. Ji Chen IEEE EMC Society Distinguished Lecturer Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Houston. Periodic structures exhibit many interesting electromagnetic characteristics. However, efficient electromagnetic modeling of these structures in time domain are often difficult, in particular if the electromagnetic sources have finite extend. In this talk, we shall review some new development in this area, such as spectral FDTD for periodic structure modeling, the array-scanning-method (ASM) FDTD modeling of the interactions between finite-sized electromagnetic and periodic structures, and the effective electrical parameters extraction for composite material using these techniques.
5:00pm - 5:30pm	Prof. Mina Rais-Zadeh Resonant Nano- and Mirco- Electromechanical Devices Prof. Mina Rais-Zadeh Solid State Electronics Laboratory, University of Michigan Resonant micro- and nano-electromechanical devices can enable fully integrated reconfigurable RF front-ends in multi-mode and multi-standard communication systems. A technology platform that integrates ultra low-loss tunable frequency-selective components with very high-Q micromechanical resonators and filters on a silicon substrate will be presented. Such a platform makes the realization of single-chip multi-standard radio transceivers possible. The current state of the technology will be reviewed.

	Technical Track B: Nano Industry and Education Chair: Wen Li Prof. Wen Li
2:30pm - 3:00pm	Prof. Sarah Dugan Nano Education Prof. Sarah Dugan National Center for Teaching of Nanoscale Science and Engineering Education Northwestern University Nanoscience has attracted a tremendous amount of attention and investment around the world. The National Nanotechnology Initiative predicts that the U.S. will need over 700,000 nanoliterate workers in the next 10 years in order to compete effectively in the global nanotech market. In response to this national workforce demand, the NSF-National Center for Learning and Teaching in Nanoscale Science and Engineering (NCLT) has a mission to build national capacity in Nanoscale Science & Engineering Education (NSEE). This presentation will provide an overview of the Center's work and focus on a couple of examples that illustrate how effective horizontal and vertical integration within the NSEE community can lead to improvements in nano curriculum and STEM education as a whole. Sarah Dugan received her Ph.D. in Physics from Northwestern University in 2006. She is currently a research associate at the Materials Research Institute at Northwestern University developing nano-themed lessons and activities for grades 7-12. She has presented several teacher workshops based on these activities. Dr. Dugan is also a co-instructor for the nano section of the Engineering Design and Communication course at Northwestern.
3:00pm - 3:30pm	Prof. Bob Clarke RFID and Nano Technologies Prof. Robb Clarke School of Packaging, Michigan State University RFID uses wireless transmission for moving information on an item to a storage and analysis location. It relates to nanotechnology through component miniaturization within the RFID system, such as tag antennae printing or entire IC tag structures. RFID further utilized nanotechnology for specific applications such as sensor technologies in gas or pathogen detection. This discussion will also examine how RFID can be used with energy scavenging/harvesting.
3:30pm - 4:00pm	Robert Giasolli Nano Education For The 21st Century Robert Giasolli Vice President of the Americas, Micro and Nanotechnology Commercialization Education Foundation (MANCEF) Nanotechnology amazing as it is, is a new level of understanding and control and is yet another driving force in shifting the science education paradigm. But how can we reach/encourage/inform the public of the value and need for our society to begin the journey of understanding this vast new world. This talk introduces a product approach that can be used to reach the youth and the masses. Robert Giasolli has been exploring the landscape of this daunting task for 12 years. He sits on numerous Boards including MANCEF, Discovery Science Center at Purdue University, is the Co-Editor of the International Roadmap to Nanotechnology, 2nd Edition, an international speaker on the subject and an entrepreneur in the field providing products addressing this need.
4:00pm - 5:30pm	Prof. Colletta Moser Bob Neff Panel discussion: Introduction to Nanotechnology and it's Role in Michigan's Enonomy Panel Chairs: Prof. Colletta Moser, Agriculture, Food and Resource Economics, Michigan State University Bob Neff, Fortune Personnel Consultants of Troy, Troy, Michigan