NSF has identified Convergence Research and Education as one of the "10 Big Ideas" for future investment. The overarching goal of this workshop is to advance Convergence Research and Education in the United States (US) by providing a platform for discussion and collaboration between researchers (including graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and faculty) from the US and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) through this first "US-Africa Forum on Nanotechnology Convergence for Sustainable Energy, Water, and Environment". The University of South Africa (UNISA) will serve as host for the forum. The proposed forum will feature discussion between researchers conducting fundamental research (experiments and modeling) in nanomaterials and nanoscale phenomena and those using nanotechnology as a convergence platform to achieve a sustainable energy, water, and environment nexus. To the Forum's Chairs knowledge, this would be the largest gathering of researchers in these fields from both the US and Africa. Both plenary and concurrent breakout sessions will take place during the forum. During the final day of the forum, each participant will be assigned to one of three concurrent breakout sessions devoted to energy, water and environment. Each session will be led by a facilitator and charged to develop a list of recommendations and topics to initiate collaborative research activities between scientists/engineers from the US and SSA to advance nanotechnology convergence for a sustainable energy, water, and environment nexus.
The plenary and breakout sessions of the US-Africa Forum on Nanotechnology Convergence will be held at the UNISA Science Campus in Johannesburg from Monday August 11 through Thursday August 15, 2019. The discussion will be guided by a transdisciplinary perspective that integrates fundamental science and engineering applications. Topical and crosscutting areas that will be discussed during the 4-day forum include: 1) nanomaterials for energy generation and storage (e.g. photovoltaics, fuel cells and batteries), 2) nanomaterials for water purification (e.g. treatment, reuse and desalination), 3) nanomaterials for CO2 capture and conversion and 4) nanotechnology for (i) environmental sensing and monitoring, (ii) separation science and technology and (iii) catalysis. In addition to the facilitation of collaborative research between US and African scientists/engineers, the Forum Chairs will leverage the conference discussion and presentations to edit and publish a special issue of the Journal of Nanoparticle Research entitled "Nanotechnology Convergence in Africa" with a focus on research that addresses global societal challenges in energy, water, food, health and environment. The successful completion of this workshop is expected to catalyze meaningful collaborations with great potential for broader impacts in advancing Convergence Research and Education in the US using Nanotechnology as a platform.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
