Symposium on Polymer Chemistry in Nanotechnology, Fall ACS Meeting, September 7-11, 2003, New York, N.Y

University Of Colorado At Boulder, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

This proposal requests $3000 from the NSF for speaker travel assistance for a POLY/PMSE symposium titled "Polymer Chemistry in Nanotechnology", to be held at the Fall 2003 National ACS Meeting in New York City, NY (September 7-11, 2003). The co-organizers of this symposium are the PI (CU Boulder) and Prof. C. Allan Guymon from the University of Iowa. The symposium will focus on how polymer chemistry can be applied to both academia and industry across many disciplines, and it is also currently a national science and technology initiative. Given this broad interest and the fact that polymer chemistry and nanotechnology are both important research and education objectives within NSF, we believe this symposium would be an ideal candidate for NSF conference support. In terms of intellectual merit, this symposium will provide an interdisciplinary forum for the presentation and discussion of new and previously unpublished results on how polymer chemistry can be used to achieve functional nanostructured materials, devices, and systems with relevant and interesting properties. The successful development of nanotechnology relies on the interdisciplinary cooperation of chemists, polymer chemists, materials scientists, physicists, and chemical engineers to create and understand new physical principle operating on the nanometer-scale size regime. Polymers are expected to play a pivotal role in the development of nanostructured materials and devices, because they offer a convenient, lightweight platform for chemical modification and device fabrication. This symposium will act as a vehicle to help keep members of ACS at the forefront of research at the intersection of polymer science and nanotechnology, so that even more important advances can be realized via a higher degree of participation. In terms of broader impact, this symposium will be a convenient, high profile venue for the presentation of academic and industrial research in the area of polymer-based nanotechnology. The talks, posters, and preprints associated with this symposium can be used to educate not only ACS members but also the general scientific public on the relevance of polymers in nantechnology. This symposium will also serve as an important platform for allowing young scientists 9i.e., graduate students and postdoctoral fellows) to participate in and learn about the exciting opportunities at the intersection of polymer chemistry and nanotechnology.