Dear BNC Colleague: As my first month as director of the Birck Nanotechnology Center is drawing to a close, I would like to recognize the efforts of our founding co-directors, Dick Schwartz and Jim Cooper. Dick and Jim brought this multidisciplinary center for interdisciplinary research from concept through design and construction. In the past year, they guided the challenging task of moving people and equipment into this complex facility. Perhaps more importantly, Jim and Dick began the process of forming a community of scholars and collaborators. We will benefit from the unselfish gifts of their energy, time and dedication for many years to come. I am looking forward to the challenges and opportunities ahead. The Birck Nanotechnology Center is truly a unique and vital resource for Purdue, for Indiana and for the nation, and I fully expect the people of the BNC to lead the way in the application of nanoscale science and engineering to technologies that advance human health, information access, energy independence, security and the protection of the environment. I hope you will feel free to convey your concerns and ideas to me or to any of the members of the BNC staff. On occasion, I will ask you for help in moving the BNC forward. I will try to keep my e-mail requests to a minimum, although I ask for your indulgence over the next few weeks as we begin the process of building content for the website, among other initiatives. Best wishes for the holidays- Tim -- ************************************************************************ Tim Sands Director, Birck Nanotechnology Center Discovery Park, Purdue University www.nano.purdue.edu & Basil S. Turner Professor of Engineering School of Materials Engineering & School of Electrical and Computer Engineering https://engineering.purdue.edu/MSE/Turner Birck Nanotechnology Center 1205 West State Street West Lafayette, IN 47907-2057 phone: (765) 496-6105 fax: (765) 496-8383 e-mail: tsands@purdue.edu