Co-sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, NU Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, NU Center for Surface Engineering and Tribology, NU Materials Research Center, and NU National Center for Learning and Teaching in Nanoscale Science and Engineering.

Professor Yip-Wah Chung (Co-Director)
Professor Ted Belytschko (Co-Director)
Professor Jian Cao (Co-Director)
Professor Wing Kam Liu (Director)

*Funded by the Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation Division, monitored and guided by Dr. Ken P. Chong

With the confluence of interest in nanotechnology, availability of experimental tools to synthesize and characterize systems in the nanometer scale, and computational tools widely accessible to model microscale systems by coupled continuum-molecular-quantum mechanics, we are poised to unravel the traditional gap between the atomic and the macro scopic world in mechanics, materials, and manufacturing. This in turn opens up new opportunities in education and research.

Many areas of research are rapidly advancing due to the combined efforts of science and engineering. In some cases, fields of research that were stagnant under the exclusive domain of one discipline have been rejuvenated with new discoveries through collaboration with practitioners from other disciplines. In mechanics, materials and manufacturing research, we are particularly excited with the research and education progress that can be achieved by combining engineering and basic sciences through modeling and simulations together with experimentation.

At the same time, rich and exciting results and technologies arising from nano-science cannot materialize until these new discoveries are implemented or utilized on a large scale via manufacturing. Manufacturing at the micro-scale (from a few microns to a few millimeters) is increasingly important as the need to bridge the macro- and the nano-world becomes more acute. Miniaturization technologies now appear in many application areas, e.g., optoelectronics, mass storage, medicine, biotechnology, communications, and avionics. These applications involve a wide range of engineering materials, three-dimensional features, and high relative accuracies (10-3 - 10-5). Emerging miniaturization technologies are perceived as key technologies of the future that will bring about completely different ways people and machines interact with the physical world. As a result, new processes and manufacturing equipment are being developed. The future of nanotechnology will depend on creating tools, instruments, metrology devices and manufacturing processes that will enable effective positioning of molecules or nanoscale building blocks into complex structures with high precision and throughputs.

The objectives of the NSF Summer Institute on Nano Mechanics and Materials are:

• To identify and promote important areas of nanotechnology, and to create new areas of focus that will augment current nanotechnology research and development by universities, industries and government
  
• To train future and practicing engineers, scientists and educators in emerging areas of nanomechanics, nanomaterials, and micro/nanomanufacturing
  
• To exchange new ideas, disseminate knowledge and provide valuable networking opportunities for researchers and leaders in the field

The short courses offered by the Institute provide fundamentals and recent new developments in selected areas of nanotechnology. The material is presented at a level accessible to BS graduates of science and engineering programs. Emphasis is on techniques and theory recently developed that are not available in texts or standard university courses. The instructors are well known for their research and teaching.

Northwestern has a long tradition in materials science and mechanics. It established the first materials science department in the country, and the mechanics program has been internationally recognized as among the best worldwide. Faculty members in materials science and engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, chemistry and physics have performed collaborative research on micro/nanoscale problems for many years, well before the term came into being.

Chicago is the center of a web of major universities engaged in scientific and engineering research: among them, the University of Illinois, the University of Michigan, the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the Illinois Institute of Technology. All these institutions have intense programs in nanoscale science and engineering and manufacturing and will provide a major source of talent for the Summer Institute.

In addition, Chicago is located in the heart of North America, and it is one of the most accessible places in the world. Direct flights are available to Chicago from most U. S. cities, most European capitals and major cities of the Far East and South America.