This story is the first in a two-part series on nanotechnology.
Visionaries of the future may be enthralled by hopes for superhuman artificial intelligence, genetic mastery and space colonization, but they might be guilty of thinking just a little too big. The most intriguing possibilities for the future are being realized at the tiniest scale.
Nanotechnology is the science of precisely controlling individual atoms for efficient manufacturing and the creation of new-and stronger, lighter, more flexible and cheaper-materials. Often maligned as overly optimistic and scientifically unreasonable, nanotechnology, should it become a reality, offers enormous benefits. Current efforts in nanoscience center around the control of atoms and the properties of matter at scale of a nanometer, a billionth of a meter.
Nanotechnology could turn current manufacturing methods upside-down. Instead of cutting down and repeatedly refining large objects into small, useful ones-such as chopping down and processing a tree to create a pencil-nanotechnology would allow these objects to be created from the bottom up, using individual atoms and molecules to form the end product. This would eliminate large amounts of waste and save energy.
Such manufacturing would be more environmentally sound and perhaps cheaper. Control at such a microscopic level also promises benefits in medicine, science and computing.
Whether fact or fiction, nanotechnology has sparked visions of nano-grandeur within the science industry. And the United States is making sure it is among the world leaders in this new technology. Former President Bill Clinton proposed $498 million in nanotech funding for the 2001 fiscal year, with roughly 70 percent going to university research.
Duke University is among the many institutions planning and conducting groundbreaking research at the nano-scale. John Harer, vice provost for Academic Affairs, has been one of the main proponents for nanoscience at Duke, calling it a "high-priority item."
Plans include hiring new faculty-two in physics, two in chemistry, and up to four in engineering-as well as funding new facilities and equipment. A large part of the proposed Engineering and Applied Science Building would house nanotechnology research, with $10-20 million going to scientific equipment with nanoscience applications.
The Pratt School of Engineering, in particular, has targeted nanoscience as a priority. Along with information technology and bioengineering, nanotechnology has been named as one of Pratt's three main strategic initiatives for the future.
Administrators are also searching for a director of nanoscience at Duke to offer intellectual leadership and help coordinate collaboration among various departments and schools. Candidates for the position include two current faculty members at Duke, one in physics and one in chemistry, as well as two scientists from outside the University.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.