EPSCoR jurisdictions have made strides in R&D infrastructure competitiveness as evidenced by garnering increased federal and state R&D funds. However, challenges remain for the EPSCoR programs in achieving recognition as national research and development leaders. This can be aided by the establishment of a National Consortium consisting on members from EPSCoR jurisdictions to capitalize on the emerging strengths and competencies across the jurisdictions in the field of Nanotechnology. The Consortium would then lead efforts to establish a Science and Technology Center for Nano-ferroelectric Materials and Devices. The center would explore current and new applications as well as commercialization of ferroelectric devices as optical switches, actuators, tunable electronic devices, battery operation, portable hand held devices and ferroelectric memory to improve the speed of personal computers.
This proposal is for a workshop to bring together interested EPSCoR researchers to initiate the concept and begin the process to establish the Consortium. The roadmap to establish a STC would follow.
