U.S.-Jordan Workshop "Nano structured Advanced Materials", Amman, Jordan, June 2008

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

0742767 Nayfeh Description: This award is to support a "US-Jordan Workshop on nano-Structured Advanced Materials", to be held in Amman, Jordan in June 2008. The organizers are Dr. Munir Nayfeh, Department of Physics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois and Dr. Laila Abuhassan, Department of Physics, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan. Workshop participants will be drawn from countries in the region including Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey and from several institutes in the US. The workshop is to serve as a vehicle to identify active scientists and groups in the region, areas of current mutual interest, priorities and where U.S.-Middle East joint research projects may be initiated and the potential for support. Intellectual Merit: Materials, when in a regime at the transition between the solid bulk and the molecular state (that is at the nanoscale), often acquire enhanced or even novel properties such as better mechanical, electrical, optical, as well as chemical properties. Thus they may become lighter, stronger and cheaper to produce and use. Nanotechnology which deals with these states is an area in which both industrial and developing countries can participate at the cutting edge of development and as such is conducive for collaboration. The impetus of nanotechnology research is the elucidation of the nature of material in the transition regime, and also the exploitation of this nature for manufacturing better products at lower cost and with new functions allowing the improvement of the quality of life. Topics to be addressed will include: polymer, ceramic and semiconductor-based advanced nano-structured materials, synthesis, characterization and processing; applications of advanced materials in the chemical industry, biomedicine, energy, electronics and photonics, environment and agriculture. Broader Impacts: This workshop will stimulate US scientists especially those active under NSF-sponsored awards to add international collaborative components with universities in the Middle East. It will provide excellent training and valuable international experience and perspectives for participating graduate and undergraduate students some of whom are working on NSF projects. The workshop is also intended to stimulate scientific collaboration and important intellectual bridges in the region and between groups at individual as well as institutional and state levels from key U.S. partners in the Middle East. Finally, it is hoped that this workshop will encourage networking and joint ventures.