|
Credit: Nick Romanenko
Yicheng Lu, Eric Garfunkel, and Yves
Chabal, left to right, architects of the
Institute for Advanced Materials and
Devices (IAMD), meet in the nanophysics
building on the Busch campus, which
houses a range of instruments unrivaled
by most other universities. The
institute, launched this summer with a
million dollar seed grant, will
coordinate multidisciplinary research
and business development for
nanotechnology in electronic, optic and
biomedical applications.
|
As a researcher at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Yves Chabal felt he had it all – funding, space, lab gear and, most of all, abundant opportunities for professional collaboration. A short stroll from his office put him in touch with experts in physics, chemistry, math, computer engineering and information theory. “If I had an idea, I could test it and plunge in right away – there was real excitement among my colleagues to make it work,” said Chabal, who came to Rutgers in 2003.
But as his company and others like it shifted resources toward product development by making deep cuts in basic research, Chabal, now a chemistry and biomedical engineering professor, found it hard to continue his studies of ultra-thin materials – the foundation of high-performance “nanotechnology” devices for electronic, optic and biomedical uses. So he welcomed the chance to join Rutgers, being well acquainted with the university’s reputation in materials and surface science and looking forward to the talent and expertise he’d find.
Chabal wasted no time getting his research up to speed and building a lab to support his and others’ needs. He found, however, that the kind of interdisciplinary, spontaneous and enthusiastic collaboration he used to enjoy at Bell Labs was much more difficult to achieve in an academic interdepartmental structure.
The opportunity to change arrived earlier this year in the form of the Institute for Advanced Materials and Devices (IAMD). (The institute’s Web site can be found at iamd.rutgers.edu.)
“Last year, the state’s Commission on Jobs, Growth and Economic Development dangled a big carrot – proposing a $2 billion dollar higher education bond referendum. Part of that bond was to facilitate new high-tech centers such as the IAMD. It got people excited,” Chabal said.
Chabal and Eric Garfunkel, a professor of chemistry, were asked to help coordinate efforts in the materials and devices areas. Along with Yicheng Lu, professor of electrical and computer engineering, they suggested a broad materials and devices institute that would help foster and coordinate research, technology transfer and outreach in a range of related materials and devices science and engineering. They received many proposals, and after distilling them, submitted a proposal for a large institute that would coordinate and integrate the work of about 100 researchers. “The administration, as well as state officials, liked the vision and appreciated the energy coming from our colleagues,” Chabal said. “It truly demonstrated a breaking down of barriers.”
In December, the state put plans for a bond issue on indefinite hold, but the Rutgers administration encouraged the team to keep the ball rolling, offering a $1 million dollar seed grant to form the IAMD. Established over the summer, the institute is moving on a range of fronts to bring it from virtual status into reality. It has applied for grants supporting investigations that transform basic research into commercially viable opportunities. Among these is an $18 million proposal to the National Science Foundation for a materials research science and engineering center at Rutgers that would join a network of such centers at other leading universities nationwide.
The institute is in the midst of an international search for a director, which it hopes to select by the end of the year.
“There is no question that IAMD is an ambitious undertaking,” said President Richard L. McCormick. “But it is an essential step to strengthen Rutgers’ multidisciplinary focus.
It will help build state-of-the-art facilities, secure corporate and government funding, and fulfill our mission to boost profitable business growth and sustainable career opportunities in New Jersey.”
The research cutbacks Chabal experienced put universities squarely in the “innovation” role –
still doing research, but further transforming new knowledge into ideas for products, and making them a commercial reality. The new institute will do that by promoting research collaboration inside and outside the university, making “incubator” space available to startup ventures, offering favorable intellectual property arrangements for both startups and established companies, and training a high-technology workforce. IAMD also will conduct outreach programs to high school students, teachers and the public.
|
