February 23, 2017
Paul L. McEuen
John A. Newman Professor of Physical Science, Cornell University
Director, Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science
“The Future of Small”
4:00 PM, 4327 Stevenson Center
Refreshments served at 3:30 PM in 6333 Stevenson Center
Abstract
Over fifty years ago, the physicist Richard Feynman gave a remarkably prescient talk about the coming revolution in miniaturization. For the next half a century, the ever-shrinking integrated circuit brought his dreams to fruition in the realms of data and computing. But the third leg of Feynman’s dream, the miniaturization of machines, is only just getting underway. The next 50 years promise even bigger changes if we can create functional devices at the smallest scales, mimicking the complexity and functionality of life. In this talk, we will discuss both the past and the future of miniaturization, with a particular emphasis on strategies to construct machines at the micro and nano scale. It is a problem that touches on everything from the mathematics of origami to the origin of life, and solving it is one of the great challenges of the twenty-first century.
Bio
Paul L. McEuen is the John A. Newman Professor of Physical Science at Cornell University and director of the Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science. His research focuses on the electronic, optical, and mechanical properties of two-dimensional materials and their use in creating nanoscale machines. Awards and honors include a Packard Foundation Fellowship, a National Young Investigator Fellowship, and the Agilent Europhysics Prize. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also a novelist, and his debut scientific thriller SPIRAL was awarded best debut novel for 2011 by the International Thriller Writers Association.