Leading the Pack in Advanced Materials Research

The Materials Research Center at Northwestern University is an interdisciplinary center that supports theoretical and applied research on experimental advanced materials. Conceived during the post-Sputnik era, it is now in its 26th year.The Center, housed in the university's Technological Institute, was one of the first three centers funded at selected universities by the federal government in 1960. The federal government, through the National Science Foundation, now supplies $2.4 million annually toward the Center's budget, and Northwestern University supplements this amount. Approximately one third of the money is used for a central pool of essential equipment, and the other two thirds is granted to professors for direct support of their research. Large amounts of time on supercomputers are also awarded to the Materials Research Center from the National Science Foundation and other sources.The Center's role enables it to provide partial support for Northwestern University faculty working at the frontiers of materials research and to purchase expensive, sophisticated equipment. All members of the Center are Northwestern University investigators in the departments of materials science and engineering, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, chemistry, or physics. The Materials Research Center is a major agent in fostering cross-departmental research efforts, thereby assuring that materials research at Northwestern University includes carefully chosen groups of faculty in physics, chemistry, and various engineering departments.

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Advanced Materials Research and Technologies Development: Lithuanian Experience

Solid State Phenomena ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/ssp.165.210 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 165 ◽

pp. 210-215

Author(s):

Algirdas Vaclovas Valiulis ◽

Jelena Škamat

Keyword(s):

Critical Mass ◽

Advanced Materials ◽

High Tech ◽

Research Institutions ◽

Small Country ◽

Main Research ◽

Research Fields ◽

New Knowledge ◽

Materials Research ◽

Fundamental Research

Lithuania, as a small country, cannot afford creating new knowledge in all the fields of science. It is reasonable to firstly focus on those fields in which Lithuania already has scientific and industrial potential and that clearly declare the biggest demand for innovations as well as capability to invest into innovations. Research institutions here usually focus on fundamental research but both the revenues and the human resources of research institutions are rather poor. Dispersion of the Lithuanian potential of science and studies and the absence of critical mass represent the main reasons why R&D lacks effectiveness. The paper presents the main research fields and high-tech research institutions in Lithuania.

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Addressing Grand Energy Challenges through Advanced Materials

MRS Bulletin ◽

10.1557/mrs2005.144 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 30 (7) ◽

pp. 518-524 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

M. S. Dresselhaus ◽

G. W. Crabtree ◽

M. V. Buchanan

Keyword(s):

Energy Supply ◽

Volume Ratio ◽

Research Society ◽

Advanced Materials ◽

Massachusetts Institute ◽

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology ◽

Societal Challenges ◽

Materials Research ◽

Institute Of Technology ◽

Enhanced Surface

AbstractThe following article is based on the plenary presentation given by Mildred S. Dresselhaus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on November 29, 2004, at the Materials Research Society Fall Meeting in Boston. Advanced materials offer new promise for addressing some of the grand societal challenges of our future, including that of global energy. This article will review opportunities that have opened up at the nanoscale, with materials of reduced dimensionality and enhanced surface-to-volume ratio. Some examples of research accomplishments and opportunities at the nanoscale will be described, with special attention given to the potential for advanced materials and nanoscience to have an impact on the grand challenges related to a sustainable energy supply for the 21st century and beyond.

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