US-Morocco Workshop on Nano-Materials and Renewable Energies, Fez, Morocco, November 17-20, 2011

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

1132940This project supports the participation of U.S. scientists in the ?US-Morocco Workshop on Nano-Materials and Renewable Energies?, Fez, Morocco, November 17-20, 2011.? The Moroccan organizers are Drs. Mimouna Baitoul and Anouar Jorio at University Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah, Fez, Morocco. The objectives of the workshop are: to provide a platform for promoting scientific collaborations on nano-materials between researchers from the U.S. and those from the North Africa, and Morocco in particular, and to facilitate interaction between students from the U.S. and from North Africa with researchers from Europe. The workshop is planned as a satellite to a larger international meeting, the 1st Euro-Med Conference on Materials and Renewable Energies, to be held in Marrakesh, Morocco.Intellectual Merit: The workshop will include presentations from world experts on nano-materials in Europe, the US and North Africa. The focus of their potential use will be on renewable energies. These presentations will be delivered at an introductory level, followed by an overview of the recent advances on nano-materials, and their possible applications for renewable energies. Students and postdocs from the US will present their work. Discussions between US scientists and those in Morocco will be held to explore possible collaborative projects. Special attention will be paid to materials for solar energy applications as Morocco is embarking on a major solar program of multi-billion dollars over the next ten years to produce 2 GW by 2020. The topics will include how semiconductor and silicon in particular nanostructures including particles and wires as well as organic material are used to enhance solar photovoltaic cells and lighting devices. This is also to include computation and simulations. The NSF funding is to support the travel of three US senior scientists and five US students and post-docs. Broader impacts: The workshop should foster a better scientific foundation to support solar energy, and other energy technologies, in North Africa and thus help in the development of renewable energy for worldwide use. Because some aspects of nanotechnology are low cost it allows participation by scientists from developing countries with scientists from industrially advanced countries, in research at the forefront of science and technology. The choice of Morocco for the site of the workshop is appropriate since the government of Morocco has been focusing on this area and has allocated significant funding to developing solar energy. Also the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) has it?s headquarter in Rabat, and thus the workshop would have an impact on other countries of North Africa and the Middle East. The workshop is to provide an opportunity for the US scientists, post-docs, and students to get involved with the science and with people of North Africa. It has the potential to produce long lasting collaborations between countries from three continents, and involve countries that have committed themselves to renewable energy. Fez is an excellent choice to hold the proposed activity since it is classified as a UNESCO world heritage site.