[CANCELED] UChicago PME Distinguished Colloquium Series - Paul McEuen

We are entering an era of tiny, functional systems that integrate sophisticated electronic, optical, and mechanical components and yet are little more than a speck of dust when observed by the naked eye. At Cornell, we’ve spent the last decade creating such microscopic systems, with a particular emphasis on new materials for actuation, fabrication techniques for integration, and the use of light for power and communication. These technologies make possible scientific instruments orders of magnitude smaller than their traditional versions, with the potential to amplify dramatically the pace of scientific discovery. In this talk, I will focus on three examples: diffractive robotics for controlling light, miniature smart thermometers for probing chemical and material systems, and tiny electrosynthesizers for high-throughput organic synthesis. I will also talk about our efforts to commercialize these technologies through a startup, OWiC Technologies.