Proposal Deadline: January 15, 2010

The Center for Hierarchical Manufacturing (CHM), an NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, invites applications from faculty under its Seed Program to support research in emerging areas of interest to the Center. The CHM Seed Program funds novel and promising approaches to nanomanufacturing science and engineering, as well as test beds that embody the translational research required for advances in fundamental science to evolve into viable manufacturing platforms and products.

Breakthrough: Cancer Detection with Nanoparticle Sensors

Professor Vincent Rotello's research is in the news with an article on a cancer identification method using nanoparticle sensors that can distinguish between metastatic and non-metastatic cells. It was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2009 106:10912). The article was also highlighted in June 26, 2009 issue of Forbes magazine.

Professor Mihri Ozkan Receives National Honor

Professor Mihri Ozkan of the University of California Riverside, a research collaborator in the Center for Hierarchical Manufacturing, received the Young Investigator Medal of the Society of Engineering Science on June 26, 2009 in ceremonies at Virginia Tech University. This honor is bestowed upon a young researcher in his/her ascendancy whose work has already had an impact in Engineering Science.

The citation on her award reads that she has been awarded the medal "in recognition of her multidisciplinary research contributions in nanotechnology and its applications in biology and engineering, which have impacted the development of nanoelectronic devices, photovoltaics, biosensors, bioimaging, cancer diagnostics and therapeutics."

Professor James Watkins Receives 2009-2010 Samuel F. Conti Faculty Fellowship Award

Professor Jim Watkins, Co-Director of the CHM, has been awarded the Conti Fellowship for his outstanding record of research and scholarship. He was recognized at the UMass Annual Awards Dinner on May 12, 2009.

Professor Vincent Rotello Named Associate Editor of the Journal of Materials Chemistry

Professor Vincent Rotello of the UMass Chemistry department has recently been named Associate Editor for the highly regarded international Journal of Materials Chemistry starting January 1, 2009. Professor Rotello adds this appointment to his many other honors and awards which include Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the University of Massachusetts Chancellor's Medal, Goessmann Professor of Chemistry, the NSF Career and Cottrell Scholar awards and a Sloan Fellowship.

The Center for Hierarchical Manufacturing is focused on the discovery, development and platforming of methodologies and processes that yield well-defined nanostructured materials and elements essential for the manufacturing of next generation devices to enhance computing and information processing, energy conversion and human health.  The emphasis is on versatile tools and high-rate processes for well-defined nanostructures that can be systematically integrated into existing manufacturing flows, an objective that requires the bridging of bottom-up techniques to yield sub-30 nm structures with top-down techniques to yield device elements at larger length scales.  These processes are based on recognized CHM research strengths that comprise core technologies within the center.

The education and training of the next generation of scientists and engineers is a vital activity in the Center. The CHM strives to provide high-quality training geared towards innovation and an enhanced base of nanomanufacturing capabilities, as well as educational materials and opportunities designed to excite and instruct K12 students, undergraduates and the public.

The Center for Hierarchical Manufacturing is an NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC). The CHM mission is to be a leading research and education center for the development of efficient process platforms and versatile tools for the two and three dimensional integration of components and systems across multiple length scales. The approach integrates nanofabrication processes for sub-30 nanometer elements based on directed self-assembly, nanoimprint lithography, high fidelity 3-D polymer template replication, and conformal deposition at the nanoscale, together with silicon wafer technologies and high-rate roll-to-roll based production tools, to yield materials and devices with unprecedented performance for computing, energy conversion and human health. As a comprehensive research center, the CHM includes research on device design, modeling and prototype testing in functional architectures taking best advantage of the specific hierarchical nanomanufacturing capabilities developed by the Center.