Professor Jonathan Spanier and Colleagues Win Several Funding Awards
NTI investigator Professor Jonathan E. Spanier (Materials Science and Engineering at Drexel) recently received several funding awards from the NSF, and three others from the DoD.
One award (~$500K) is from NSF Major Research Instrumentation Program that has enabled Drexel to purchase a dual-beam focused-ion beam scanning electron microscope (FIB-SEM), with in situ lift-out, gas-injection sources, X-ray fluorescence, and other in situ capabilities. The instrument is now installed and operating within the Central Research Facilities at Drexel, and available for regional university and industry users through external user subscriptions, hourly usage, and/or the Industry Consortium. Inquiries should be directed to Professor Spanier (spanier@drexel.edu).
As part of a second recently-awarded research project entitled “Low Dimensional Plasmonic Semiconductor Materials” (NSF Division of Materials Research and the Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) program, Professor Spanier and his colleagues Dr. Gary S. Tompa and Dr. Nick Sbrockey (Structured Materials Industries, Inc., Piscataway NJ), and Prof. Behram Nabet, will investigate and develop III-V and III-N nanowires for photonic applications. The three-year, $470K project will support graduate and undergraduate researchers, co-op students, instrumentation, and course development with industry participation.
With the support of the US Army Research Office, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the US Navy, Professor Spanier and his colleagues at SMI, Inc. also received three other recently-awarded Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) project awards — two in Phase I and one in Phase II involving oxide electronic materials, the last of which involes a partnership with colleagues Professor S. Alpay at the University of Connecticut and Prof. T.S. Kalkur at the University of Northern Colorado at Colorado Springs. The total value of funding on these projects is $950K.
Why Is Small So Big?
Nanotechnology deals with products and processes that are measured in almost unbelievably small increments called “nanometers”—one billionth of a meter.
At the nanoscale, materials differ from larger objects in their physical, chemical and biological properties; therefore, they lend themselves to new and improved materials, systems and devices. Nanotechnology is behind the development of such diverse advancements as:
- Drug Delivery
- Biofiltration and Separation sciences
- Improved coatings for medical devices
Thanks to rapid advances in this exciting new field, we now have the tools and talents to manipulate materials on the molecular scale—a technology literally changing the world as we know it.