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News Release
Office of News and Information
Johns Hopkins University / 3400 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21218-2692
Phone: (410) 516-7160 / Fax (410) 516-5251
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January 31, 1997
For Immediate Release
CONTACT: Phil Sneiderman
prs@jhu.edu
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New 'Nanostructures Center' Takes Giant Leap into Small
World
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Story: |
With funds from a $3.5 million, 5-year grant
from the National Science Foundation, Johns
Hopkins University will establish a Materials
Research Science and Engineering Center to
create and study nanostructures--microscopic
materials measured in nanometers. One
nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, about
5 to 10 atoms wide or about 1 millionth the
size of a typical grain of sand.
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Who's Doing It: |
The new Materials Research Science and
Engineering Center is a multidisciplinary
project between the Krieger School of Arts
and Sciences Department of Physics and
Astronomy and the Whiting School of
Engineering. It will link the university
with
private-industry scientists who will seek
practical applications for novel materials
developed in campus labs. At the same time,
Hopkins will involve high school and middle
school students in this work in an effort to
stir interest in science and engineering
careers. These Baltimore area students and
their teachers will get a front-row glimpse
of nanostructure research through internships
in campus labs. University undergraduates
will also participate in these studies.
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About the Research: |
Technological advances over the past decade
have allowed scientists to create tiny new
materials that do not naturally occur.
Nanotechnology is a cutting-edge field of
study in which several Hopkins faculty
members have already achieved
breakthroughs.
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Applications: |
Some of these structures possess ideal
properties for use in fields ranging from
fundamental physics to new electronic
devices. In the near future, discoveries in
nanotechnology may produce new recording
heads for media that can store far more data
than existing forms; ultrathin coatings that
can add strength and corrosion protection;
and highly sensitive new types of electronic
sensors.
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Quotes/Contacts: |
"I think this is a great thing to have at
Hopkins. It gives Hopkins national visibility
in the field of materials research. It's very
difficult to do work that cuts across
different disciplines, but this center is
strictly for that purpose. It's for work that
involves more than one, very often several
investigators, with very different
backgrounds."
--
Chia-Ling Chien, center director and
professor in the Department of Physics and
Astronomy.
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Research Tool: |
One of the challenges the researchers will
face is getting a direct look at the tiny
structures they create through various
techniques. To do that, they need powerful
microscopes. Kevin Hemker,
assistant
professor of mechanical engineering, and
David Veblen,
professor of earth and
planetary sciences, recently obtained
National Science Foundation and Keck
Foundation grants that will allow Hopkins to
purchase a $1.5 million high-resolution
transmission electron microscope. The
microscope will allow them to do chemical
analyses and observations down to the
nanometer scale to see what they are
making.
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The Grant Process: |
To obtain the funds for this plunge into
nanostructures research, Hopkins had to
survive a rigorous competition that began
with 139 proposals from universities
throughout the nation. From this pool, the
National Science Foundation last September
chose Hopkins to be one of 13 new Materials
Research Science and Engineering Centers.
These new centers joined 11 other MRSECs
chosen in 1994. The NSF grant will be
allocated over five years. In four years,
Hopkins can seek further funding. Each
competing institution could propose a
speciality area.
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Other Participants: |
Along with Chien and Hemker, the founding
research group includes: Robert
Cammarata,
associate professor of materials science and
engineering; Joseph L. Katz, professor of
chemical
engineering; Andrew
Millis,
associate professor of physics and astronomy;
Daniel
Reich, associate professor of physics
and astronomy; and Peter
Searson, professor
of materials science and engineering.
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