Nanoscience and Engineering Center (NSEC) for Directed Assembly of Nanostructures

在伦斯勒理工学院(RPI)和伊利诺伊大学香槟分校(UIUC)，NSF纳米尺度科学与工程中心(NSEC)的纳米结构定向组装中心(NSEC)的目标是解决在许多工业和生物医学应用中显著提高能力的新材料、结构和设备的设计和合成所涉及的基础科学问题。这项工作将集中在发现和开发方法，将具有独特性质的纳米级构建块组装成功能结构，在良好控制的、有意引导的条件下。定向组装是纳米技术最终成功的根本途径。该中心将集研究、教育和技术传播于一体，并将成为国家纳米科技基础知识和应用资源。与主要行业、拥有不同学生群体的优质本科院校以及创新的K-1-2教育推广计划合作，将确保中心的研究、教育和推广努力的成果将对社会产生重大影响。综合研究计划将计算设计与实验相结合，专注于发现新的途径，通过结构、尺寸和成分不同的构建块之间的连接和界面来组装功能多尺度纳米结构。与洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室(LANL)的合作将大大加强这一理论工作。该中心的核心研究计划包括两个跨学科的推进：纳米颗粒凝胶和聚合物纳米复合材料和纳米结构生物分子复合材料结构。它将得到交叉理论和定性工作的支持，并将得到一项关于纳米技术在与核心能力、知识管理和全球化有关的根本性创新领域的社会经济影响的新研究工作的补充。因此，该中心的总体愿景包括研究、教育，并通过与所有年龄段的学生和行业成员的互动进行推广。这一雄心勃勃的计划的成果将带来从纳米级构建块组装新型功能材料和器件的新方法，向受过纳米科学和工程培训的跨学科学生和研究人员干部，以及纳米技术的新应用，以推动工业进入21世纪。该中心包括RPI、UIUC和LANL的21名高级研究员、6名博士后助理、18名研究生、类似数量的本科生以及行政和技术支持人员。

The goal of this NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC) for Directed Assembly of Nanostructures at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign (UIUC) is to address fundamental scientific issues underlying the design and synthesis of new materials, structures, and devices with dramatically improved capabilities for many industrial and biomedical applications. The work will focus on discovering and developing the means to assemble nanoscale building blocks with unique properties into functional structures under well-controlled, intentionally directed conditions. Directed assembly is the fundamental gateway to the eventual success of nanotechnology. The Center will integrate research, education, and technology dissemination, and will serve as a national resource for fundamental knowledge and applications of nanoscale science and technology. Partnering with major industry, with quality undergraduate colleges with diverse student populations, and with innovative K-1 2 educational outreach programs will ensure that the fruits of the Center's research, education, and outreach efforts will have a significant impact on society. The integrated research program combines computational design with experimentation to focus on the discovery of novel pathways to assemble functional multiscale nanostructures with junctions and interfaces between structurally, dimensionally, and compositionally different building blocks. A partnership with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) will enhance significantly the theoretical effort. The Center's core research program consists of two interdisciplinary thrusts: Nanoparticle Gels and Polymer Nanocomposites and Nanostructured Biomolecule Composite Architectures. It will be supported by crosscutting theory and characterization efforts and complemented by a new research effort on socioeconomic impacts of nanotechnology in areas of radical innovation pertaining to core competency, knowledge management, and globalization. Thus, the overall vision for the Center encompasses research, education, and outreach through interactions with students of all ages and members of industry. The results of this ambitious program will lead to new methodologies for assembling novel functional materials and devices from nanoscale building blocks, to an interdisciplinary cadre of students and researchers trained in nanoscale science and engineering, and to novel applications of nanotechnology to spur industry into the 21" century. The Center includes participation of 21 senior investigators at RPI, UIUC, and LANL, 6 postdoctoral associates, 18 graduate students, a similar number of undergraduates, and administrative and technical support personnel.