New England nanotech center renews funding

August 25, 2009: The Nanoscale Science and Engineering Research Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing, a joint venture pooling efforts from Northeastern, U. of Massachusetts/Lowell, and U. of New Hampshire, has received a five-year, $12.25M renewal grant from the National Science Foundation to continue its work with commercializing nanoscale scientific process.

Work going on at the center, centered at Northeastern in Boston, MA, runs the gamut from nanobiosensors for cancer detection to flexible solar cells to nanodrug-delivery systems to batteries to flexible electronics. It also investigates the environmental, economic, regulatory, social, and ethical impacts of nanomanufacturing.

In a statement, the center cited projections from the NSF of a $1 trillion market for nanotech products by 2015 — and that getting there will require perfecting mass-production techniques of nanostructures. “The collaborative research partnership between the Center and industry is accelerating the development of nanotechnology-based products that can impact a number of industries, including healthcare and energy,” stated Ahmed Busnaina, director of the Center and prof. of mechanical and industrial engineering at Northeastern. “Our research is developing more cost-effective, safe, and highly reliable processes that can be scaled up for large-scale manufacturing.”

Established in 2004, the Center now has more than 160 researchers and staff members working on developing nanoscale processes and applications. Leadership includes deputy director Joey Mead, prof. of plastics engineering at UMass Lowell; associate director Glen Miller, prof. of chemistry and director of UNH’s materials science program; associate director Carol Barry, prof. of plastics engineering at UMass Lowell; associate director Jackie Isaacs, prof. of mechanical engineering at Northeastern; and associate director Nick McGruer, prof. of electrical and computer engineering at Northeastern.

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