Mihail C. Roco is the founding chair of the US National Science and Technology Council subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering and Technology (NSET), and is Senior Advisor for Science and Engineering, including Nanotechnology, at the National Science Foundation. He is also the editor in chief of the Journal of Nanoparticle Research.
Roco obtained a doctorate from the Polytechnic University of Bucharest (1976). He was Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Kentucky (1981–1995), and held visiting professorships at the California Institute of Technology (1988–1989), Johns Hopkins University (1993–1995), Tohoku University (1989), and Delft University of Technology (1997–98). [1]
He has played a leadership role in the National Nanotechnology Initiative, nanoscale science and engineering research and education, particulate and multiphase systems, and in developing perspectives on the societal implications of nanotechnology. [2] [3] [4] [5] He pioneered convergence science, identifying basic theories, principles and methods for convergence, and applied it to various platforms such as convergence of nanotechnology with bio-, cognition-, digital-, AI and other fields for various goals, in what is sometimes called converging and emerging technologies. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] Convergence research for universal processes in nature and society has become an international endeavor since 2001. He is credited with thirteen patents and has contributed over two hundred articles and twenty books on mass transfer, rotating machinery, multiphase systems, computer simulations, nanoparticles and nanosystems, intelligent cognitive assistants, trends in emerging technologies, knowledge convergence and societal implications. [11] [12] [13] He is a co-founder and past Chair of the AIChE Particle Technology Forum.
Roco coordinated the preparation of the U.S. National Science and Technology Council reports on "Nanotechnology Research Directions" in 1999 and the "National Nanotechnology Initiative" in 2000. Under his stewardship the nanotechnology federal investment has increased from about $3 million in 1991 at NSF to $1.8 billion in 2010, and over 80 countries adopted nanotechnology programs using the vision formulated in these documents. The cumulative National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) investment in research and development is about $43 billion in 2024. NNI has been adopted as a research priority by five U.S. administrations between 2000 and 2024. Presidents Bill Clinton (“scientific breakthroughs that have changed the way we live and work” March 2024), Barack Obama (“shape the goals and strategies.. to ensure benefits of nanotechnology” December 2010) and Joe Biden (“inspired by the limitless possibilities…from green technologies to quantum computing… solving some of our Nation’s greatest challenges” March 2024) commended the impact of NNI through public recognition letters to NNI leadership, and President Joe Biden signed a personal congratulation letter to M.C. Roco (“I am grateful for your service to the American people…” July 2024). Nanotechnology has become a global science and technology initiative since 2000, the annual revenues from products where nanotechnology is a condition for competitiveness been estimated to about $3 trillion worldwide in 2020, of which about one-fourth is in the U.S. [14]
Roco is Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, Member of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences, and Honorary Member of the Romanian Academy. He is Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Fellow of the Institute of Physics, Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and Fellow of the International Association of Advanced Materials. Roco served as associate editor for Journal of Fluids Engineering and for journal of Measurement Science and Technology.
Forbes magazine recognized him in 2003 as the first among "Nanotechnology’s Power Brokers" and Scientific American named him one of 2004's top 50 Technology Leaders. He was declared "Engineer of the Year" in 1999 and 2004 by NSF and the U.S. National Society of Professional Engineers. Dr. Roco was Swiss Academy Annual Lecturer, "J. Robert Oppenheimer" LANL Lecturer, Smithsonian Institution Lecturer, and The Brookings Institution Lecturer.
Dr. Roco is the 2005 recipient of the AIChE Forum Award "for leadership and service to the national science and engineering community through initiating and bringing to fruition the National Nanotechnology Initiative". He received the National Materials Advancement Award [15] from the U.S. Federation of Materials Societies in 2007 for NNI leadership and “as the individual most responsible for support and investment in nanotechnology by government, industry, and academia worldwide”. In 2011 he received the ChinaNANO Award from the Chinese Academy of Science. Dr. Roco received the inaugural award of the International Union of Materials Research Societies "Global Leadership and Service Award" in 2015 at the EU Parliament for "vision and dedicated leadership ...that has made major impact to all citizens around the world."
Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). At this scale, commonly known as the nanoscale, surface area and quantum mechanical effects become important in describing properties of matter. This definition of nanotechnology includes all types of research and technologies that deal with these special properties. It is common to see the plural form "nanotechnologies" as well as "nanoscale technologies" to refer to research and applications whose common trait is scale. An earlier understanding of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal of precisely manipulating atoms and molecules for fabricating macroscale products, now referred to as molecular nanotechnology.
The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) is a research and development initiative which provides a framework to coordinate nanoscale research and resources among United States federal government agencies and departments.
Sir Mark Edward Welland, is a British physicist who is a professor of nanotechnology at the University of Cambridge and head of the Nanoscience Centre. He has been a fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, since 1986 and started his career in nanotechnology at IBM Research, where he was part of the team that developed one of the first scanning tunnelling microscopes. He was served as the Master of St Catharine's College, Cambridge and took up office from 2016 to 2023.
The metaphor of a trading zone is being applied to collaborations in science and technology. The basis of the metaphor is anthropological studies of how different cultures are able to exchange goods, despite differences in language and culture.
"Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance" (CTIHP) is a 2002 report commissioned by the U.S. National Science Foundation and Department of Commerce. The report contains descriptions and commentaries on the state of the science and technology of the combined fields of nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science (NBIC) by major contributors to these fields. Potential uses of these technologies in improving health and overcoming disability are discussed in the report, as well as ongoing work on planned applications of human enhancement technologies in the military and in rationalization of the human-machine interface in industrial settings.
Nanomanufacturing is both the production of nanoscaled materials, which can be powders or fluids, and the manufacturing of parts "bottom up" from nanoscaled materials or "top down" in smallest steps for high precision, used in several technologies such as laser ablation, etching and others. Nanomanufacturing differs from molecular manufacturing, which is the manufacture of complex, nanoscale structures by means of nonbiological mechanosynthesis.
The history of nanotechnology traces the development of the concepts and experimental work falling under the broad category of nanotechnology. Although nanotechnology is a relatively recent development in scientific research, the development of its central concepts happened over a longer period of time. The emergence of nanotechnology in the 1980s was caused by the convergence of experimental advances such as the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope in 1981 and the discovery of fullerenes in 1985, with the elucidation and popularization of a conceptual framework for the goals of nanotechnology beginning with the 1986 publication of the book Engines of Creation. The field was subject to growing public awareness and controversy in the early 2000s, with prominent debates about both its potential implications as well as the feasibility of the applications envisioned by advocates of molecular nanotechnology, and with governments moving to promote and fund research into nanotechnology. The early 2000s also saw the beginnings of commercial applications of nanotechnology, although these were limited to bulk applications of nanomaterials rather than the transformative applications envisioned by the field.
The impact of nanotechnology extends from its medical, ethical, mental, legal and environmental applications, to fields such as engineering, biology, chemistry, computing, materials science, and communications.
William Sims Bainbridge is an American sociologist who currently resides in Virginia. He is co-director of Cyber-Human Systems at the National Science Foundation (NSF). He is the first Senior Fellow to be appointed by the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. Bainbridge is most well known for his work on the sociology of religion. Beginning in the 2010s he has published work studying the sociology of video gaming.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to nanotechnology:
In 2007, productive nanosystems were defined as functional nanoscale systems that make atomically-specified structures and devices under programmatic control, i.e., performing atomically precise manufacturing. As of 2015, such devices were only hypothetical, and productive nanosystems represented a more advanced approach among several to perform Atomically Precise Manufacturing. A workshop on Integrated Nanosystems for Atomically Precise Manufacturing was held by the Department of Energy in 2015.
Cato T. Laurencin FREng SLMH is an American engineer, physician, scientist, innovator and a University Professor of the University of Connecticut.
Discovery Park is a 40-acre (160,000 m2) multidisciplinary research park located in Purdue University's West Lafayette campus in the U.S. state of Indiana. Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, an energy and resources industry executive who also spent a decade as a top scientist and administrator at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, serves as Discovery Park's Vice President.
The societal impact of nanotechnology are the potential benefits and challenges that the introduction of novel nanotechnological devices and materials may hold for society and human interaction. The term is sometimes expanded to also include nanotechnology's health and environmental impact, but this article will only consider the social and political impact of nanotechnology.
V Ramgopal Rao is an Indian Academic serving as the Vice Chancellor of Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani from February 2023 onwards. He was previously the director of IIT, Delhi for six years during 2016-2021.
The International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN) was established by Northwestern University in 2000. It was the first institute of its kind in the United States and is one of the premier nanoscience research centers in the world. Today, the IIN represents and unites more than $1 billion in nanotechnology research, educational programs, and supporting infrastructure.
Andrew David Maynard is an author, professor, and director of the Risk Innovation Lab at the School for the Future of Innovation in Society (SFIS) at Arizona State University (ASU). Maynard was previously the director of the University of Michigan Risk Science Center and served as Science Advisor to the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. His work focuses on the socially responsive and responsible development of emerging and converging technologies.
Nanotechnology in warfare is a branch of nano-science in which molecular systems are designed, produced and created to fit a nano-scale (1-100 nm). The application of such technology, specifically in the area of warfare and defence, has paved the way for future research in the context of weaponisation. Nanotechnology unites a variety of scientific fields including material science, chemistry, physics, biology and engineering.
Convergence research aims to solve complex problems employing transdisciplinarity. While academic disciplines are useful for identifying and conveying coherent bodies of knowledge, some problems require collaboration among disciplines, including both enhanced understanding of scientific phenomena as well as resolving social issues. The two defining characteristics of convergence research include: 1) the nature of the problem, and 2) the collaboration among disciplines.
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