Posted: June 3, 2008

Northeastern Awards the 2008 Roger H. Grace Fellowship in Nanomanufacturing

(Nanowerk News) The National Science Foundation (NSF) Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing (CHN) at Northeastern University is pleased to announce that this year’s recipient of the Roger H. Grace Fellowship in Nanomanufacturing is Cihan Yilmaz. Yilmaz, a 2006 graduate with BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey with a GPA of 3.99/4.00, was ranked 1st in about 1,600 students in the college of Engineering at Yeditepe.
The award, which is a renewable one-year position with a stipend to work in the area nanotechnology and nanomanufacturing at CHN, will allow Yilmaz to study at Northeastern’s CHN, who is currently examining the directed assembly of nanoparticles.
"Being an alumni of Northeastern University in both their undergraduate and graduate engineering schools, and a consultant in micro and nanotechnology commercialization for over 25 years, I have kept a watchful eye on the progress of the university as a player in the research and development area,” said Grace.
“Most recently, the university has captured two major National Science Foundation grants to create Engineering Research Centers, a significant accomplishment. The Center has caught my attention because of its focus on the commercialization of nanotechnology, which is of great importance to me and my firm. I am honored to make a contribution to support research students in this area in such a prestigious and important position and to have my friend and learned colleague, Professor Ahmed Busnaina, as their research advisor,” added Grace.
The CHN is well positioned to discover innovative answers to the wide-ranging challenges of nanomanufacturing and train scientists to bring these new techniques to industry. It is one of the very few research centers in the nation to focus solely on developing economically viable fabrication processes to bring inventions into commercial production, and do so more quickly than the usual multi-decade time frame.
The future of nanomanufacturing will depend on a workforce well-educated in nanoscience and nanoengineering. Among the greatest challenges in nanotechnology is the ability to commercially produce devices that work at the nanoscale level, which is measured at one-billionth of a meter. If developed, these systems could catapult the field into a $1 trillion industry by 2015.
“The role of our research is pivotal in bringing nanoscale inventions to market,” added Busnaina, who will be presenting a new technology during the NSTI conference next week.
About the NSF Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing
In the fall of 2004, the National Science Foundation awarded Northeastern University and its partners, the University of Massachusetts Lowell, the University of New Hampshire, Michigan State University and the Museum of Science, a Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center for high-rate Nanomanufacturing with funding of $12.4 million over five years.
The Center for high-rate nanomanufacturing is focused on developing tools and processes that will enable high-rate/high-volume bottom-up, precise, parallel assembly of nanoelements (such as carbon nanotubes, nanoparticles, etc.) and polymer nanostructures. The center nanotemplates are utilized to conduct fast massive directed assembly of nanoscale elements by controlling the forces required to assemble, detach, and transfer nanoelements at high rates and over large areas. The developed nanotemplates and tools will accelerate the creation of highly anticipated commercial products and will enable the creation of an entirely new generation of applications.
Source: Northeastern University