Cutting-edge nanotech research center debuts

A handful of Penn administrators, government officials and faculty were on hand last Tuesday at Levine Hall for the official commencement ceremony of Penn's major venture into the study of nanotechnology.

Headed by Materials Science and Engineering professor Dawn Bonnell, the Nano-Bio Interface Center -- one of several such Nanoscale Science and Engineering centers across the country -- will combine efforts from across campus in order to understand nanotechnology, the interaction between physical and biological systems at the molecular level.

"To the School of Engineering, this is a dream come true," School of Engineering and Applied Science Dean Eduardo Glandt said in his opening remarks. "Many areas are converging rapidly, almost becoming one."

Penn President Amy Gutmann and state Secretary of Community and Economic Development Dennis Yablonsky were in attendance at the event.

Gutmann noted that while the center had plenty of outside support from Harrisburg and Washington, D.C., Penn is still "driving the revolution" when it comes to nanotechnology.

"Riding the wave and sitting on top of the world requires hard work and determination," Gutmann said, "and we have a great interdisciplinary team leading the efforts here at Penn."

Research programs at the new center will focus on initiatives in biomolecular function and molecular motion through the study of single molecules. Initiatives will also explore molecular probes and the ethics of nanotechnology, with the assistance of Penn's Center for Bioethics.

Bonnell said that the center will be working with the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter, where it will initially be housed, as well as with other Penn centers including the Pennsylvania Muscle Institute. In addition, it will collaborate with the Nanotechnology Institute, the Philadelphia school district and universities in England and Germany.

With funding approaching $30 million from the National Science Foundation and other sources, the center is supported by a nationwide nanotechnology investment effort by the federal government called the National Nanotechnology Initiative.

"The federal government has invested $1 billion in nanotechnology, double of what it invested in the Human Genome" Project, Yablonsky said. "Pennsylvania alone has invested $42 million. We are committed to the nano industry in partnership with world-class institutions, like Penn."

Yablonsky pointed out that government support would not only help bring more research dollars to institutions, but also improve their ability to commercialize the results of academic research.

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