The "final frontier" may not be outer space, but rather "inner space"
in the world of tiny tech. Innovation at this microscopic level,
in fields such as MEMS, new materials, and nanotechnology, certainly
offers some of the most exciting possibilities in the universe.
As inventors learn to manipulate miniscule matter and develop creations
ranging from nanometers to micrometers in size, they are revolutionizing
our manufacturing and communications processes...and much more.
The following work might be impossible to see with the naked eye,
but it could have a huge impact.
- (active) indicates project we are currently funding
- (complete) indicates project has completed funding
- (spin-out) indicates project has formed a company
Marc Baldo: Exploiting molecular conformational
changes for data storage
What do biological life and electronics have in common? Exploiting
the nature of molecular conformation that is essential to life,
this project could lead to transistors with faster read and write
times and single-molecule data storage. (complete)
Vladimir Bulovic: Novel
light-emitting devices take flat-panel display market to next level
A quantum-dot-based light-emitting device that lowers manufacturing costs and dramatically improves picture quality could accelerate growth of the $35-billion market for flat-panel displays. (complete, spin-out)
Vladimir
Bulovic: Nanocrystal non-volatile memory devices
This new innovation could lead to smaller, faster, and
lower voltage memory for computers, cameras, and other electronic
devices
by combining organic chemistry and quantum dot technology. (complete)
Yet-Ming Chiang: Ionic colloidal crystals,
tiny structures with enormous potential
The ability to manufacture ionic colloidal crystals - a new family
of materials with fascinating properties - could lead to exciting
applications in ultrafiltration, drug delivery, photonic fingerprinting,
and numerous other areas. (complete)
Martin Culpepper: HexFlex
- Enabling nanofabrication with a six-axis nanomanipulator
Current developments in nanotechnology are limited by the difficulty
of manipulating objects to extreme precisions; this invention
is an elegant and inexpensive solution
to the problem. (complete)
Karen Gleason: Novel conductors for
flexible, robust electronic devices
This bendable transparent conductive material could enable production of next-generation
folding displays, solar cells, and solid-state lighting panels and add robustness
to interface devices like touch screens. (complete)
T. Alan Hatton: Catalytic particles
for rapid decontamination in carbon filters and clothing
When added to carbon filters in gas masks, garments, and ventilation and filtration
systems,
these catalytic particles can quickly neutralize toxins in air and water. (complete)
Klavs Jensen: Accelerating innovation
in the chemistry lab with integrated automated microchemical systems
The classical chemical lab has changed little in the last hundred
yearsÑuntil
now. These tiny "laboratories" could make chemical and pharmaceutical development
faster, less expensive, and more innovative. (complete)
Sang-Gook Kim: Carbon nanotube manufacturing
Carbon nanotubes could serve as the building blocks everything from
single-electron transistors to flat panel displays. This research
aims to answer the question: how can we produce them quickly and
affordably? (complete)
Lionel Kimerling and Anuradha
Murthy Agarwal: Low-cost multispectral infrared detector arrays
The large potential for infrared sensors may be unlocked by this novel approach
for making commodity-priced multispectral photodetector arrays. (complete)
Dave Perreault: 3D circuit
boards to enhance electronics at low cost
Three-dimensional printed circuit boards (3D PCBs) would provide
better performance than current 2D technology and could capture
a substantial portion of the $30 billion annual market in PCBs. (complete)
Carol Livermore and Timothy Havel: Portable Power Sources - A method for creating efficient long-lasting portable power sources that could change the battery market. (active)
Caroline Ross: A simpler way to
make microelectronic devices
Simple, inexpensive magnetic devices could replace complex and costly
silicon-based semiconductors in a variety of applications, from
smart cards to merchandise tags. (complete)
Alex Slocum: A tunable MEMS LC filter
By controlling nanometer-scale spaces between-relatively huge-millimeter-scale
surfaces, this technology might be one of the keys to the convergence
of wireless communications. (complete)
Alex Slocum: Growth of long, strong carbon nanotube fibers
This could be the first commercially viable way to produce carbon
nanotubes, whose remarkable properties could create new classes
of composite materials with billion-dollar potential. (complete)
Henry Smith and Rajesh Menon: High throughput Nanoscale Imaging
An absorbance modulation technique enabling economical high-resolution, high-throughput nanoscale imaging for faster more flexible analysis of nano-structures. (active)
George Barbastathis: Ultra-fast low actuation voltage RF MEMS switch
This innovation could lead to the first commercially viable replacement
for solid-state switches, paving the way for next-generation radio
frequency products in testing, military radar, and consumer wireless
markets. (complete)
Angela Belcher and David Clapham:
Nanotechnology process enables fast discovery of ion channel-targeting
drugs
This nanotechnology-based approach to monitoring key proteins could open up new
drug markets worth billions. (complete)
Vladimir Bulovic:
Slim-format spectrometer
A rugged, slim-format spectrometer the size of a PDA and costing
much less than current portable spectrometers could benefit
field applications from point-of-care medical devices to environmental
sensors. (complete)
Srini Devadas: Authenticating and protecting digital information in portable devices
This approach would make devices like smart cards unclonable
and could have applications in digital rights management, particularly
in low-powered devices like cell phones and PDAs. (complete, spin-out)
Rutledge Ellis-Behnke: Realizing
modern medicine's dream of immediate hemostasis
A new transparent
compound that not only stops bleeding instantly but can be operated
through and breaks down harmlessly within the body has the potential
to revolutionize surgery and trauma care. (complete, spin-out)
Robert Langer: Tissue engineering
Here's the $400-billion-a-year question: how do you create new human
tissue supported by vascular structures? This project is preparing
for clinical trials in one area of this big opportunity. (complete, spin-out)
Emanuel Sachs: Metallization on
solar cells
This method for applying circuitry to solar cells could
make them much more affordable and energy-efficient. (complete)
Yang Shao-Horn: Engineered
electrode assemblies for PEM fuel cells
Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells have great potential for powering cars
and other applications, but the most expensive part of the fuel cells, the electrode
assemblies, have been cost-prohibitiveÑuntil now. (complete)
Francesco Stellacci and Jing Kong: Super-hydrophobic Nanomaterials
A simple and rapid nano-material approach to controlling surface wetting that could impact how environmentally hazardous materials are cleaned. (active)
Francesco Stellacci: Contact
printing - bridging nano-lithography with industrial production
Much in the same way the printing press revolutionized
the creation of reading matter, this nano-contact printing
technology enables mass production of nano devices currently
built one at a time. (complete)
Todd Thorsen: Microfluidic platform for high-density multiplexed biological assays
Here is a cheaper, more productive platform for identifying genes
and proteins that could capture share in a $1.5 billion market. (complete)
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