Symposium explores nanotech innovations to improve health

Arizona State University will host a premier nanotechnology symposium titled “Organic/Inorganic Interfaces and Health Science Applications” at the Biodesign Institute on Jan. 13-14.

Nanotechnology, or the science of working at an atomic scale, allows engineers and scientists to build tiny machines small enough to interact with the building blocks of life. Experts in nanofabrication, nanodevices and nanoelectronics from across the United States are expected to attend for the event.

“Many of these scientists are on the cusp of building devices that have the potential to one day improve our health in ways that were not possible before,” said Erica Forzani, Ph.D., assistant professor in Biodesign’s Center for Bioelectronics and Biosensors with appointments in School for Engineering Matter, Transport and Energy, and the Arizona Institute for Nano-Electronics, both at the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.

Presentations from industry and academia scientists will feature the latest tiny technologies, such as biosensors, diagnostics, nanoarrays and nanowires. Students in this field will have the opportunity display recent discoveries as part of a poster contest.

“We want to support and inspire the students who are helping us today and will someday take this technology even further than we can,” said Trevor Thornton, Ph.D., electrical engineering professor in the ASU Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.

The Biodesign Institute at ASU is co-hosting the event with the ASU NanoFab, operated by the Center for Solid State Electronics Research within the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. ASU NanoFab is a member of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network – an integrated partnership of 14 facilities supported by the National Science Foundation, and NSF is supporting the symposium. The network provides extensive support in nanoscale fabrication, synthesis, characterization, modeling, design, computation and hands-on training.

The event will be hosted in the Biodesign Institute Auditorium at 727 E. Tyler St., in Tempe, is free and open to all, but registration is required. To register, e-mail t.thornton@asu.edu. More information is available at http://thornton.faculty.asu.edu/Research/NNIN_Workshop/.