Contact:
Chriss Swaney
412-268-5778

For immediate release:
October 23, 2002

Carnegie Mellon Announces Lecture Linking Nanotechnology Research To Homeland Security Opportunities

WHAT: James S. Murday, director of the National Nanotechnology Coordinating Office, will discuss the impact nanotechnology research could have for homeland defense. Murday, who also heads the chemistry division at the Naval Research Lab in Washington, D.C., said his lab is working to develop new analytical tools for sensors that could be used in the fight against terrorism, including detection of hazardous materials. Other research is underway to improve the absorption process used in today's standard issue gas masks. To be sure, the vision of nanotechnology — arranging quality nanostructures to assemble themselves into smart systems — is still a distant goal, according to Murday.

Nanotechnology, which takes its name from the nanometer (one billionth of a meter), describes the ability to manipulate individual atoms to create new materials. Nanoparticles, for example, help make automobile sideboards harder and stronger, and nanocrystals allow sunscreen to be transparent but still block sun.

Murday's lecture is sponsored by the newly formed Center for Interdisciplinary Nanotechnology Research at Carnegie Mellon. The talk is free and open to the public.

WHEN: 11:30 a.m., Friday, Oct. 25

WHERE: The Singleton Room, Roberts Engineering Hall, Carnegie Mellon University

CONTACT: Chriss Swaney at 412-268-5776 for more information.