Nanotechnology Now - Press Release: Something big happening in nanotechnology

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Abstract:
Nobel laureate Professor Sir Harry Kroto will officially open the Nottingham Nanotechnology and Nanoscience Centre (NNNC) at The University of Nottingham on Monday 18th June. The new Ł3.2m interdisciplinary research centre is based at University Park and houses state-of-the-art research and teaching facilities. It is estimated that the global market for nanotechnology could be worth more than Ł500 billion by 2013.

Something big happening in nanotechnology

Nottingham, UK | Posted on June 14th, 2007

Nobel laureate Professor Sir Harry Kroto will officially open the Nottingham Nanotechnology and Nanoscience Centre ( NNNC ) at The University of Nottingham on Monday 18th June. The new Ł3.2m interdisciplinary research centre is based at University Park and houses state-of-the-art research and teaching facilities.
It is estimated that the global market for nanotechnology could be worth more than Ł500 billion by 2013.

Having already identified nanotechnology and nanoscience as an area where its world-leading research and interdisciplinary approach can cross academic boundaries to forge important breakthroughs, The University of Nottingham has established the centre to co-ordinate and promote its expertise in this field.

The new centre will be headed by Professor Clive Roberts, who said: "The NNNC is a key element in the University's strategy to build upon and extend the excellent applied and fundamental nanoscience at Nottingham and to maximise its impact in this important field of research across the sciences and engineering."

Although it can't be seen with the naked eye or even normal microscopes, nanotechnology is playing an ever-more important role in our daily lives. Scientists and engineers at The University of Nottingham are at the cutting edge of nanotech developments in healthcare, transport, lifestyle, electronics and manufacturing.

The centre will act as a hub for nanotechnology activities across the university and is a joint initiative between the schools of Pharmacy, Physics and Astronomy, Chemistry and Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering. In conjunction with the official opening these schools have founded a new taught Masters in Nanoscience.

Professor Kroto, a Francis Eppes Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Florida State University, was one of the winners of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. It was shared with Robert Curl and Richard Smalley for the discovery of C-60, a new form of carbon which heralded a new era of novel 21st century material.

Among the other leading figures in international nanoscience attending Monday's formal opening will be Professor Colin Humphreys CBE, Goldsmiths Professor of Materials Science at Cambridge University. His research includes all aspects of electron microscopy and analysis, semiconductors, ultra-high temperature aerospace materials and superconductors.

Also attending will be Dr Don Eigler, IBM Research Fellow at the IBM Almaden Research Centre, who is noted for his work on the manipulation of atoms and molecules on surfaces using Scanning Probe Microscopy.

Professor Sir Fraser Stoddart FRS, the Saul Winstein Professor of Chemistry at the University of California at Los Angeles will also be at the opening. In July 2002, he became the Acting Co-Director of the California NanoSystems Institute ( CNSI ). On May 1, 2003, he was appointed the Director of the CNSI and assumed the Fred Kavli Chair of NanoSystems Sciences.

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About University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is Britain’s University of the Year (The Times Higher Awards 2006). It undertakes world-changing research, provides innovative teaching and a student experience of the highest quality. Ranked by Newsweek in the world’s Top 75 universities, its academics have won two Nobel Prizes since 2003. The University is an international institution with campuses in the United Kingdom, Malaysia and China.

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