The Cornell campus buzzed with close to 380 participants at the 30th anniversary celebration of the Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility (CNF), June 14. Topics addressed included drug delivery, ethics, and even science fiction.

Scientists from all over the world gathered to hear experts, participate in technical sessions, and attend a poster presentation.

The symposium, “The Future of Nanotechnology,” kicked off with reflections from Edward Wolf, Cornell professor emeritus of electrical and computer engineering and CNF director from 1978 to 1988. He recounted that in the early years, CNF was called the National Research and Resource Facility for Submicron Structures. “Nano” was not part of the title until 1987, when the facility was renamed the National Nanofabrication Facility. In 2003 CNF took on its present name.

CNF has long been closely connected with the National Science

Sheila Jasanoff, professor of science and technology studies at Harvard University and founding chair of Cornell’s Science and Technology Studies Department, delivers a plenary lecture, “Constituting the Nanoscale: Lessons from the 20th Century,” at the CNF 30th anniversary celebration. Robert Barker/University Photo

Foundation, which has provided the majority of CNF’s funding. Lawrence Goldberg, senior engineering adviser of NSF’s Division of Electrical and Communications Systems, called CNF a “vibrant enterprise” that has surpassed its founding concept and evolved into a world leader in nanoscience and nanofabrication.

“The National Science Foundation is very proud to have played a continuing role in that success,” said Goldberg, who oversees the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network, a 13-member consortium that includes Cornell.

The day’s themes were laid out by three additional speakers. R. Stanley Williams, a senior fellow at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, described the advances he and others at his company have made in nano-imprint lithography. The technique for creating nanoscale devices is a progression from the more traditional method of photolithography and involves creating a mold to stamp an imprint of a device.

Introducing the topic of nanomedicine, Tejal Desai, director of the University of California, San Francisco’s Laboratory of Therapeutic Micro and Nanotechnology, spoke about therapeutics and drug delivery using nanotechnology. Nanomedicine, she said, continues to face the challenge of developing drugs or therapies that can be taken orally and are able to withstand the physiology of the digestive system.

Sheila Jasanoff, professor of science and technology studies at Harvard University and a founding chair of Cornell’s department of the same name, spoke on the politics and societal implications of nanotechnology. While drawing comparisons between public perceptions of nanotechnology and the Manhattan Project or genetically modified foods, she also noted that built into the early stages of nanotechnology research is a widespread desire to take social and ethical considerations seriously.

Following the plenary speakers, the participants spent the afternoon in tracks dedicated to each of the three topics: carbon nanotubes in electronics and optoelectronics, cellular mechanics through nanotechnology, and the social and ethnical dimensions of nanotechnology, some of which have already been raised in science fiction.

—Anne Ju, Cornell Chronicle