PANEL — “The Scientific Challenges of Truly Transformative Nanotech”
Andrew Bleloch, (Halcyon), Matt Francis (UC-Berkeley), Sir J Fraser Stoddart (Northwestern), William Goddard (CalTech), Chris Schafmeister (Temple)
Tough to characterize and see what you are working on. Takes a long time
Interface control is tough
Molecules have to be put together with the other materials to get a device
Interdisciplinary challenges
Need to have the people trained with seamless collaboration
What tool is holding you back (if it was an order of magnitude of order better)
characterization of soft materials (electron microscope will not work that well)
Prediction of self assembly of larger objects is problematic
Need more oddballs who do not fit into certain categories who can bridge and glue the specialties.
microscopy service center could characterize a material and change the intellectual content by 180 degrees, but the academic or company that brought the material would give no credit to the microscopy group that put them on the right path
undergrads are still put into the regular categories
Successful grads hitch their wagon to the most successful research group. And over the course of few months or a year become an equal contributor.
Promote and tolerate risk taking
A lot of potential using AI for molecules with well defined shapes.
Schafmeister is using programming on the Teragrid to find the best geometry for his molecules – reaction groups that they can place where they want in 3D
Need to have room for serendipity
Use computation to reduce the search set of synthesizable molecules
If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator or StumbleUpon. Thanks
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.