The PI will organize the eighth forum on nanotechnology for sustainability between the United States and Korea, to be held on April 4-5, 2011 at Caltech. The first forum, held in Seoul in 2003 covered a broad range of topics in nanotechnology. The second forum covered topical issues including nanomanufacturing research and education. The third forum dealt with active nano-devices and systems, and covered the impact of nanotechnology on society and environment. The fourth forum addressed topics in sustainable nano-energy focusing on the design and characterization of nano-materials as well as devices and systems. The fifth forum focused on the emerging area of nano-biotechnology emphasizing novel nano-biomaterials, instrumentation, and integrated systems in biomedicine and delivery of healthcare as well as environmental, health & safety issues. The sixth forum dealt with fundamentals in nano-electronics, its fusion with bio- and energy-technology and their applications. The seventh forum oversaw discussions ranging in nanotechnology convergence in energy technologies. In the eighth forum, the PI will further empower a common platform for scientists and engineers from both countries to accommodate urgent technology issues in climate change mitigation, sustainable management of water and other natural resources. The PI will be the organizer in collaboration with Mamadou Diallo from Caltech for the U.S. participation, which will include 14 senior presenters and six additional early-career participants (underrepresented minorities will be strongly encouraged), and a roughly equal number of Korean presenters will also participate. This forum will actively encourage partnerships in nanotechnology for sustainability promising to have a huge impact in nanoscience, in addition to strengthening achievements and assessing the progress on recommendations made during the previous seven forums. The PI also aims to focus on exchanging young scientists. The forum proceedings and findings will be published on Carnegie Mellon's website and will be available to a broad audience in a special issue journal publication.
This proposed forum will promote the exchange of research, education, and policy between the two countries in the emerging area of nanotechnology for sustainability. The novel contribution, in contrast to previous forums, is the focus on challenges faced in the latest applications of water reuse, green chemistry and sustainable mineral resources as well as resolving these issues to the fullest extent in the immediate future.
In terms of the broader impacts, this forum will promote collaborative initiatives between industry, government, and academia in the two countries which will have a huge contribution to society and global education in a broader sense. The aim of this Forum is to promote and introduce the timely technology in sustainability research by addressing mutually beneficial needs of two countries such as water reuse, climate change, and food & natural resources. Since these important topics require a paradigm shift via introduction of nanotechnology, the PI will publish the content of the Forum in a special issue of Journal of Nanoparticle Research for extensive outreach to scientific community.
The eighth Forum on nanotechnology between the U.S. and Korea was held on April 4th & 5th, 2011at the Beckman Institute in California Institute of Technology, which is the birthplace of nanotechnology through Richard Feynman’s landmark seminar and former President Clinton’s order of establishment of the National Nanotechnology Initiative. 36 participants were invited who are eminent scientists in the field of nanotechnology along with 30 nanoscience expert attendees to discuss nanotechnology convergence in sustainability. Special focus was placed on crippling problems faced by an ever increasing global population emphasizing environmentally friendly technologies for the future. The previous seven nanotechnology Forums organized by us alternating between the U.S. and Korea dealt with the fundamentals of nano-science and its technological applications in timely fields of mutual interest between the two countries. The oral presentations and vigorous group discussions in this Forum initiated the integration of the achievements in nanotechnology from 2000-2010 (NANO1) into nanotechnology for 2010-2020 (NANO2) to establish R&D strategies and societal impact. Thus, our Forum was an ideal platform to promote scientists and engineers from both countries to exchange information, practices, and policies to vastly advance scientific cooperation. This effort has been highly fruitful for both sides mainly in the areas of science and engineering and has helped create a breeding ground for further cultivation of novel ideas for the sustainable growth of human civilization. The multi-disciplinary nature of the topics covered in this Forum produces significant ripple effects in many areas including various technical fields, scientific education, and human resource development among others. Through this Forum we have further improved cutting edge solutions to critical challenges in the field of nanotechnology convergence in sustainability, which will also boost the strong partnership between industry, government, and academia leading to a huge impact on society in a broader sense. To this end, we continued our tradition of strongly encouraging participation of underrepresented minorities and women, having had two black minorities and four women engineers out of the 23 U.S. attendees. While dealing with the topic of sustainability, we also noted its tremendous impact on global research and education through the development of nano-science educational outreach including K-12 to graduate levels. This was done by establishing a robust curriculum capable of recruiting, molding, and inspiring young minds to face societal problems through collaborative research and educational programs. The direct and indirect impacts of this Forum will be available to the general public via the websites in the U.S. (www.andrew.cmu.edu/org/nanotechnology-Forum/) and Korea (www.nanonet.info/) as well as a special issue in the Journal of Nanoparticle Research. Approximately 15 articles were contributed based on our Forum presentations, which contain an introduction to global trends and competition in nanotechnology as well as future forecasts and policy issues from the standpoint of the research collaborations between the U.S. and Korea in the nanotechnology area. The outcomes of this Forum will act as a launching pad for applications which will have significant economic and sustainable value including energy production, storage & transmission, electronics, and biomedical fields, thereby beginning a new era of a "second industrial revolution".
