WEEKLY MEMO, May 19, 2008 ****************** 1. ANNOUNCEMENTS ****************** 1.1 Last Thursday's town hall meeting covered a variety of issues including: * BNC Support Survey * Facility Reminders * Change in BNC Acid Supplier * New Photoresist Storage Policy in the Cleanroom * Recent Additions to the BNC Equipment Please see the attached slides or view the information on the BNC website (www.nano.purdue.edu). 1.2: Ira Young (BNC Procurement Officer) will be on vacation next week (May 26th - May 30th). Standard chemical stocking will be maintained as normal. But please plan ahead for equipment stocks (beakers, tweezers, etc.). 1.3: CARD READERS 2nd FLOOR EAST: The BNC card reader system installation is continuing on the **2nd Floor EAST** wing (BRK 20XX) this week. Some cutting and grinding can be expected as conduit and the card readers are mounted in the galley and on each lab door (BRK 2031, 2037, 2043, 2077, 2081, & 2087). Note, work on BRK 2043 & 2087 BSL2 labs are scheduled for Thursday and Friday (05/22-05/23) Researchers can expect to see electricians in their labs and in some cases may be asked to briefly suspend experiments as door strikers are installed. If you have any issues or concerns please contact Mary Jo Totten (61173) or Mark Voorhis (43036). 1.1: Summer Project . . . Birck gets waxed:-): Is still on hold. 1:2: There will be some people around the building this week washing windows. They will be doing both inside and outside in the public area. ******************* 2. TOURS/VISITORS ******************** 2.1: ******************** 3. SEMINARS ******************** 3.1: The Student Leadership Council (SLC) of NCN is pleased to announce a Student Research Symposium for the first time. This year we will have research talks by students from theoretical and experimental groups working on nanotechnology at Purdue University. You are cordially invited to attend this function. It is a great opportunity to know new people, learn what your colleagues are doing, and learn material that may be important to your own research or coursework. Also, free lunch will be provided ;-) **NCN Student Research Symposium (NSRS), 2008** DATE: Tuesday, May 27 2008 VENUE: Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship MRGN (located in the Discovery Park at Purdue, intersection of Jischke drive and State Street) SCHEDULE: Powerpoint Research Presentations (morning session): 10:00 am - 12:00 noon Lunch and Poster Presentation: 12:00 noon - 1:30 pm Powerpoint Research Presentations (afternoon session): 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm The Symposium will feature 8 research talks by experimentalists and 8 by thoereticians, each 15 min long (including questions). CALL FOR POSTERS: You are invited to present a poster during the extended lunch session. You do not necessarily have to prepare a new poster. A poster that you may already have and would like to present is most welcome. It will be a great opportunity to share your research work with others and get feedback. Please let Alicia Goodman, goodman@ecn.purdue.edu, know that you will be attending and your meal preference if you are a vegetarian by end-of-business Wednesday May 21, so that she can ensure you don't go hungry. Also let her know by the same day if you wish to present a poster during the NSRS lunch session and we will have a poster stand ready for you. All you have to do is bring the poster with you to the symposium. Please email any individual queries you may have to apalaria@purdue.edu We sincerely hope you will be able to join us for this most exciting event and perhaps also present a poster with some of your exciting research work. Sincerely, Amrit Palaria (SLC, NCN@Purdue) **************** 4. OPPORTUNITIES **************** 4.1: "UPDATE ON NSF STC COMPETITION" THIS MESSAGE IS BEING SENT ON BEHALF OF CHRISTINE KING: Dear Deans, Department Heads, and Discovery Park and OVPR Center Directors, Following up on the message below, this morning I spoke with Joan Frye at NSF, who will be the new program director for the STC competition. Dr. Frye stated that the new RFP for the STC will not be released in May, and that she's hoping for early June. Also, when I asked about the eligibility limitations, she suggested the possibility that the institutional limitation on preproposals may be fewer than the five allowed for the last competition. Also, FYI, I've attached Arden Bement's comments re: the STC in his February NSF FY2009 Budget Request to Congress.I hope this information helps a bit in your planning for this competition. Bement's budget comments on Feb. 4 re: STCs Interdisciplinary research is alive and well at NSF, not only in the nature of the grants we fund, but also in our organizational structures and cross-Foundation partnerships. The 2009 budget request gives particular emphasis to interdisciplinary programs, centers, and multi-investigator grants. In 2009, we plan to establish five to seven new Science and Technology Centers. The STCs tackle frontier problems of national and global importance by developing innovative partnerships among disciplines and with business and industry. They speed the transfer of concepts for new technologies to the private sector. And, critically, they integrate research with the education of those who will be tomorrow's teachers and leaders in discovery and innovation. At the beginning of my presentation, I emphasized the potential economic returns that can accrue from NSF investments. However, there are other, vitally important returns: namely, those that serve national and global needs in energy, health, security and environment, and those that increase human understanding and wonder about the universe in which we live, from the smallest to the largest scales.