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The W.M. Keck Foundation of Los Angeles has awarded a $1 million gift to the
University's nanoscience team to support ground-breaking research that explores
and manipulates objects at the atomic and molecular levels.
Nanotechnology is the science behind building increasingly fast devices in
dramatically smaller packages. It affects everything from sensors and computer
chips to medical implants. The funding will help Carolina's nanoscience
research team purchase new instruments to improve on the first-generation
nanoManipulator developed at Carolina, which uses virtual reality technology to
provide a visual, three-dimensional image of microscopic particles. The next
nanoManipulator will give a clearer and more precise image of structures and
operations at the atomic level and also allow researchers to conduct
experiments in "realtime" -- where the manipulation occurs simultaneously with
the imaging of the experiment on a screen.
"The W.M. Keck Foundation gift will allow us to see the atoms in our samples as
we create the smallest devices through our unique manipulation capabilities,"
said physicist Richard Superfine. "In establishing the Atomic Imaging
Manipulation Laboratory, we will have capabilities unmatched for nanoscale
science and technology in the world."
The new technology is promising for vastly different fields of knowledge --
from gaining insight into medical problems such as how cells behave in
blood-clotting disorders to understanding new ways of transmitting information
by improving high-speed data lines. Carolina physicists, chemists, biologists
and computer scientists in the College of Arts and Sciences are working at
unprecedented levels of collaboration to understand and utilize the new
technology.
Researchers involved with the project led educational outreach efforts to get
students excited about the new technology. Superfine took part of the device to
Orange High School in Hillsborough, where biology students connected to the
nanoManipulator at Carolina through the Internet. Students were able to view
and manipulate viruses using three-dimensional goggles that present
computer-enhanced images.
"The generous support by the W.M. Keck Foundation enables our scientists to
move their nanophase research to the next level of significance," said
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Robert Shelton, who was instrumental in
the proposal presentation to the foundation. "The W.M. Keck gift will bring the
nanoManipulator facility literally to the fingertips of countless
schoolchildren throughout the state and nation. The W.M. Keck Foundation has a
reputation of supporting only the best, and we view this gift as the highest
form of authentication of the quality of this research program."
The University provided matching funds of $200,000 from overhead receipts
generated by research conducted at Carolina. These funds will cover
installation costs, as well as student and staff time to engineer and assemble
the equipment. Institutional support was key in winning the grant.
The W.M. Keck Foundation was established in 1954 by W.M. Keck, the founder of
Superior Oil Co., to provide funding in the fields of science, engineering and
basic biomedical research. The foundation's gift toward nanoscience is its
fourth gift awarded to the University.
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