Events

The 3rd Annual NanoDay @ Penn a success

The Nano/Bio Interface Center hosted NanoDay @ Penn 2007 on October 24, 2007.  The goal of NanoDay@Penn is to raise awareness across the community about the progress and promise of nanobiotechnology.  Visitors throughout the day include university students, faculty, and staff along with science classes from local high schools

This year, participating high schools included Northeast High School, High Technology High School, and the Westtown School.  Students and teachers visited the exhibits and posters developed by research groups and hosted by graduate students.  Schools also had the opportunity to tour various labs and facilities such as the GRASP (robtotics) Lab, the Penn Regional Nanotechnology Center, the Nano/Bio Probes Innovation Facility and the microfab lab.  A multimedia show runs in the exhibits halls throughout the day and features images and animations developed by graduate students to help illustrate the fascinating world at the nanometer scale. 

Twenty high school students participated in the high school research fair.  Award winners from last year’s Delaware Valley Science Fair were invited to NanoDay to display their posters in Levine Hall.  Later in the day, teams of graduate students talked with each high school participant about their research and later selected their favorite projects.  This year’s NanoDay high school award winner were:

Senior Projects

1st Place: Franz Sauer, High Technology High School
2nd Place: Avni Patel, Wissahickon High School
3rd Place: Devin Redding, Avon Grove High School

Junior Projects

1st Place: Janet Song, Methacton High School
2nd Place: Rebecca Roelofs, Charter School of Wilmington
3rd Place: Deepthi Shashidhar, Great Valley High School

Sophomore Projects

1st Place: Christine Kurian, Charter School of Wilmington
2nd Place: Kathleen Yu, North Penn High School
3rd Place: Elizabeth Robbins, Academy of Notre Dame de Namurs

Awards for graduate student research and the multimedia graphics competition were announced at a ceremony in the afternoon.  Michael Fischbein, graduate student in the Drndic Group (Department of Physics and Astronomy) was presented with the NBIC Graduate Award for Research Excellence for his work in nanosculpting allowing the creation creating nanogaps.  Graduate student Bob Johnson in Charlie Johnson group won award for animation designs for the second year in a row.  The Johnson Group also won the award for the best NanoDay exhibit.

The 2007 NBIC Research Excellence Award was presented to Dr. Charles  Leiber of Harvard University.  His talk was titled, Nanotechnology and the Life Sciences:  From Ultrasensitive Disease Detection to Hybrid ‘Smart’ Materials.

Mark your calendars now for NanoDay @ Penn 2008 to be held Wednesday, October 29, 2008.

NBIC Award for Research Excellence in Nanotechnology

Charles M. Lieber

Nanotechnology and the Life Sciences: From Ultrasensitive Disease Detection to Hybrid ‘Smart’ Materials

Wednesday, October 24, 2007
4:00 PM
Wu & Chen Auditorium, Levine Hall
3330 Walnut Street

Charles M. Lieber was born in Philadelphia.  He attended Franklin and Marshall College and graduated with honors in Chemistry.  After doctoral studies at Stanford University and postdoctoral research at the California Institute of Technology, he became an Assistant Professor position at Columbia University in 1987 embarking on a new research program addressing the synthesis and properties of low-dimensional materials.  Lieber moved to Harvard University in 1991 and now holds a joint appointment in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, as the Mark Hyman Professor of Chemistry, and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.  Lieber has pioneered the synthesis of a broad range of nanoscale materials, the characterization of the unique physical properties of these materials and the development of methods of hierarchical assembly of nanoscale wires, together with the demonstration of applications of these materials in nanoelectronics, nanocomputing, biological and chemical sensing, neurobiology, and nanophotonics.  He has developed and applied a new chemically sensitive microscopy for probing organic and biological materials at nanometer to molecular scales..  Lieber is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow of the American Physical Society, the Institute of Physics and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  Lieber is Co-Editor of Nano Letters, and serves on the Editorial and Advisory Boards of a number of science and technology journals.  He has published more than 280 papers and is the principal inventor on more than 30 patents.  In his spare time, Lieber founded a nanotechnology company, Nanosys, Inc., with the goal of revolutionizing commercial applications in chemical and biological sensing, computing, photonics and information storage.

NBIC Award for Research Excellence in Nanotechnology

Christoph Gerber

AFM Technology: Beyond Imaging Applications,
Towards Personalized Medical Diagnostics

Friday, February 23, 2007
3:00 PM
Berger Auditorium, Skirkanich Hall
210 South 33rd Street

Christoph Gerber is Director for Scientific Communication of the National Center of Competence for Nanoscale Science at the Institute of Physics, University of Basel, Switzerland, and formerly a research staff member in nanoscale science at the IBM research laboratory in Rüschlikon. He has served as project leader on various programs of the Swiss National Science Foundation. For the past 25 years, his research has focused on nanoscale science as a pioneer in scanning probe microscopy, making major contributions to the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope and the atomic force microscope (AFM). He is a co-inventor of biochemical sensors based on AFM technology. He is author and co-author of over one hundred scientific papers and has been cited more than 14,500 times in crossdisciplinary fields placing him among the “one hundred worldwide most cited researchers in physical sciences.” Gerber is a fellow of the American Physical Society and a fellow of the Institute of Physics (UK). His IP portfolio contains 37 patents and patent publications.

Industry Highlight 2007

Working Together to Bring Technology to Society

Friday, February 23, 2007, 3:00 PM
Penn Museum

As globalization influences the approaches industry takes to technical research and development, corporations and universities must find new paths toward productive relationships.  On February 23, 2007, a distinguished panel of university and industry leaders assembled at the University of Pennsylvania’s Nano/Bio Interface Center to discuss exciting opportunities and complex challenges around university/industry partnerships.  Corporate representatives came from DuPont, IBM, and Johnson and Johnson as well as Sandia National Laboratory.  Christoph Gerber of the University of Basel in Switzerland presented his view of the future of nanotechnology and opportunities these kinds of collaboration will afford.  The discussion among the panelists centered on nanotechnology, biotechnology, computation, and information technology.

        Download the - - Industry Launch Program - -

The proceedings of the event are now available on-line in either a podcast (MP3) version, or streaming video (Real Player™ required):

• AUDIO PODCAST FILE
• VIDEO STREAMING FILE

The 2nd Annual NanoDay @ Penn

The Nano/Bio Interface Center hosted NanoDay @ Penn on October 25, 2006.  The goal of NanoDay is to raise awareness across the community about the progress and promise of nanobiotechnology.  Visitors throughout the day include university students, faculty, and staff along with science classes from local high schools

This year, participating high schools included Martin Luther King High School, High Technology High School, Microsoft School for the Future, and the Westtown School.  Students and teachers had the opportunity to interact with exhibits and posters developed by the graduate students and tour various labs and facilities.  The multimedia show that runs throughout the day featured graphic images and animations developed by graduate students to help illustrate the fascinating world at the nanometer scale. 

Twenty-four high school students participated in the high school research fair.  Award winners from last year’s Delaware Valley Science Fair were invited to NanoDay to display their posters in Levine Hall.  Later in the day, teams of graduate students talked with each high school participant about their research and later selected their favorite projects.  This year’s NanoDay high school award winner were:

Senior Projects

1st Place:  Raja Srinivas, High Technology High School
2nd Place: Eric Prouty, Central Bucks High School West
3rd Place:  Inna Alecksandrovich, George School

Junior Projects

1st Place:  Franz Sauer, High Technology High School
2nd Place: Kayla Reneé Cahill, High Technology High School
3rd Place:  Mouleena Khan, Methacton High School

Sophomore Projects

1st Place:  Janet Song, Methacton High School
2nd Place: Katie Anderson, Methacton High School
3rd Place:  Deepthi Shashidhar, Great Valley High School

Awards for graduate student research and the multimedia graphics competition were announced at a ceremony in the afternoon.  P. Peter Ghoroghchian, a MD/PhD graduate student in the School of Medicine was presented with the NBIC Graduate Award for Research Excellence for his work in emissive polymer vesicles.  Two graduate students in Charlie Johnson group, Andre Brown and Bob Johnson won awards for their graphics and animation designs while the Park Group won an award for the best NanoDay exhibit.

NanoDay keynote speaker, Dr. Steven M. Block was awarded the 2nd Annual NBIC Research Excellence Award.  Block is a biophysicist and professor at Stanford University in both the Department of Biological Sciences and the Department of Applied Physics.  His laboratory has pioneered the use of laser-based optical traps (or “optical tweezers”) to study the nanoscale motions of individual biomolecules.  His group was the first to develop instrumentation that resolved the individual molecular steps taken by kinesin motors moving along microtubules, which measure 8nm.  Block is a strong proponent of nanoscience and the potential interplay between biology and nanotechnology.

Concluding the day’s events, Penn Nanotech Society hosted a Careers in Nanotech Forum.  Representatives from research and design, law, venture capital, and policy discussed their roles in nanotech and provided insight on what companies look for in recruits.  After the panel and question and answer session, students were able to meet and greet the guests.

Mark your calendars now for NanoDay @ Penn 2007 to be held Wednesday, October 24, 2007. 

>> View photos from the day's events >>

Download the brochure

The Ultimate Challenge for Nano/Bio Probes

January 16 and 17, 2006
The University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104

The Nano/Bio Interface Center at the University of Pennsylvania , with the support of the National Science Foundation, is nucleating an International Molecular/Nano Probe Network. The goal of the workshop is to develop a value proposition for the Network that will incorporate the needs of various constituencies. Furthermore, a long range 'grand challenge' will be developed to focus the technical vision. Network participants to date include:

Y. Goldman (USA), R. Palmer (UK), Y. Kuk (Korea), M. Welland (UK), S. Lindsay (USA), L. Eng (Germany), S. Kalinin (USA), D. Rugar (USA), B. Huey (USA). A. Engel (Switzerland), L. Novotny (USA), V. Dravid (USA), M. Roco (NNI), M. Garner (Intel), C. Prater (Veeco)

Topics to be explored include:

• Combined TIRF- Traps-SPM
• Multiple Modulation Probes
• Moving PFM into the Bio Arena
• Spatially Resolved Spectroscopy of Biological Molecules
• 3-D Tomography of Bio Molecules
• Discovery Platforms
• Protein Mechanics

*A more comprehensive program will be available shortly.

 

Registration

Registration will be accepted via this Web site, e-mail , or phone (215-746-3210).
Online registration is available by clicking here.

Lodging and Travel

The 2006 NBIC International Molecular/Nano Probe Network Workshop will be held in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania at the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter (LRSM) - located 30 minutes from the Philadelphia International Airport and two blocks from the Hilton Inn at Penn Hotel. Day two of the workshop will take place at the Inn at Penn.

International Visitors Please click here for important information.

The Nano/Bio Interface Center has reserved a block of rooms with the Inn at Penn Hotel. Reservations can be made using the information below:

HOTEL RESERVATION DEADLINE: January 3, 2005

The Hilton Inn at Penn
3600 Sansom Street
Philadelphia , PA 19104
Phone Reservation: 215-222-0200
Online Reservation: http://www.theinnatpenn.com/
Room Rate is $199/night + 14% tax

 

NanoDay @ Penn 2005

October 26, 2005

The Nano/Bio Center opened its doors and sponsored a full day of activities and special events on 26 October 2005. NanoDay @ Penn offered the University community as well as local high school science classes, an opportunity interact with researchers involved in the exciting phenomena at the nanometer scale.

>> View photos from the day's events >>

Over 150 high school students participated in the day’s events. Many students visited with their high school science classes. Visiting schools included Northeast High and Communication Technology High, both of which had teachers in the summer Research Experience Teachers program. Other schools included Philadelphia High School for Business and Technology, the Westtown School, and High Tech High School from New Jersey. Each group was able to tour the many exhibits and posters developed by graduate students. Many groups were able to get a behind-the-scenes look at the new Nano/Bio Innovation Probe Facility, the Microfabrication Laboratory, and the Penn Regional Nanotechnology Facility. There, students were able to learn about various types of microscopes and characterization instruments used to work at the nanoscale.

Over thirty high school researchers displayed their work at NanoDay @ Penn. Last year’s award winners from the Delaware Valley Science Fair were invited to bring their research posters that were on display throughout the day on Levine Hall. Later in the afternoon, teams of graduate students fanned out to interview each of the students and select their favorite projects. The winners were:

Senior projects

1st place - Rebacca Lineman, Bishop McDevitt High School
2nd place - Christopher Janover, High Technology High School
3rd place - Daniel Lang, Lang Homeschool

Junior projects

1st place – Amanda MacKereth, Avongrove High School
2nd place – Joe Kovacs, Bethlem Catholic High School
3rd place – Neil Nyak, The Charter School of Wilmington

Sophomore projects

1st place – Franz Sauer, High Technology High School
2nd place – Mouleena Khan, Methacton High Schoool
3rd place – Matthew Ricci, Boyertown High School

The day concluded with an awards ceremony for the high school researchers. Rui Shao, who recently completed is doctoral studies in the Materials Science and Engineering Department was the first recipient of the NBIC Graduate Award for Research Excellence. The audience was then treated to a thrilling talk by Professor Horst Stormer of Columbia University. After his talk, Dr. Stormer was awarded with the 1st Annual NBIC Research Excellence Award.

If you were not able to attend this year, please mark your calendar for next year. NanoDay @ Penn 2006 will be held on Wednesday, October 25, 2006. Please join us.

 

RET Reception a Success

October 18, 2005

Many of the high school science teachers participating in the 2005 Research Experience for Teachers program returned to campus on Tuesday, 18 October 2005 to share their research posters with faculty and staff at Drexel and Penn. The event provided and opportunity to see old friends and discuss the nanoscale science that kept these teachers busy for five weeks this past summer. In additional to university faculty, staff, and graduate students, several teachers came with their principals and some even brought students.