| Posted: November 10, 2008 |
American Competitiveness Institute hosts free nanotechnology workshop |
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(Nanowerk News) On November 12, the American Competiveness Institute (ACI) will host a free workshop "Competing in the 21st Century: The Nanotechnology Edge" at ACI in Philadelphia. Stephen J. Fonash, Ph.D., founding director of the Penn State Nanofabrication Facility, a national R&D user facility and one of the charter institutions of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN), will speak.
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Nanotechnology has often been thought of as playing a key role in the next industrial revolution. Nanotechnology is not an industry; it is an enabling technology that is impacting a growing number of industry sectors, which now include wood products, electronics, biotechnology, biomedicine, pharmaceuticals, textiles, building and construction materials, agriculture and food production, printing and publishing, plastics, metals, information technology, and many others. How effectively companies in these industries utilize nanotechnology in the years ahead will be crucial to their competitiveness.
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Unfortunately, there is one overriding problem: A lot of people still have no idea what nanotechnology is. Company personnel, from management and sales to the manufacturing workforce, must have a better understanding of nanotechnology and of its far-reaching implications—or risk the loss of the competitive opportunities available.
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With this in mind, the Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization (CNEU) has developed a workshop series entitled Competing in the 21st Century: the Nanotechnology Edge designed to acquaint Pennsylvania industry personnel with fundamentals of nanotechnology and expected impacts of nanotechnology on their industries.
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The desired outcome of this workshop is for participants to understand:
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What nanotechnology is and why it is important
The uniqueness of nano-scale materials - Opportunities to solve seemingly impossible issues
Why industry cares about nanotechnology (How nanotechnology is impacting us today; Nanotechnology applications across industry sectors)
Basic nano-scale processing and characterization techniques
The importance of nanotechnology workforce training
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Dr. Stephen Fonash holds the Bayard D. Kunkle Chair in Engineering Sciences. He is the founding director of the Penn State Nanofabrication Facility, which is a national R&D user facility and one of the charter institutions of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN). He is the founder and current director of the Pennsylvania Nanofabrication Manufacturing Technology (NMT) Partnership and of its NSF Advanced Technology Education Center in Nanotechnology. He is also the director of Penn State’s Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization (CNEU). Prof. Fonash’s educational contributions focus on nanotechnology workforce development and on nanotechnology secondary and post-secondary education. His research activities encompass the processing and device physics of micro- and nanostructures including solar cells, sensors, and transistors. Current research activities include studies of the effects of nanoparticle plasmon-related enhancement of optical characterization techniques, electrical sensing based on nanowires, and nanowire transistors. He has published over 300 refereed papers in the areas of education, nanotechnology, photovoltaics, microelectronic devices and processing, sensors, and TFTs. His book, Solar Cell Device Physics, has been termed the “bible of solar cell physics” and his solar cell computer modeling code AMPS is used by over 600 groups around the world. Dr. Fonash holds 23 patents in his research areas, many of which are licensed to industry. He has founded two companies and serves on the boards of several other companies. He is also a consultant to a variety of firms. Dr. Fonash received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and of the Electrochemical Society.
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The American Competitiveness Institute (ACI) is a scientific research corporation dedicated to the advancement of electronics manufacturing processes and materials for The Department of Defense and industry. The company operates the U.S. Navy’s Center of Excellence in Electronics Manufacturing.
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