Distinguished Visitors Lecture Series

Sponsored and funded annually by the Dean of the College of Sciences
Old Dominion University

Spring - Fall 2007

Public Talk, 7:30pm on February 7 at OCNPS 200

Nano-materials:  what's really different and what's math got to do with it?

M. Gregory Forest,
Grant Dahlstrom Distinguished Professor
Departments of Mathematics & Biomedical Engineering
Co-Director, Institute for Advanced Materials, Nanoscience & Technology
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Abstract:  By now everyone has heard about "nano", if by no other means than from the IPod nano.  In this lecture I will address some of the reasons why the design of materials at the nanometer scale really is different from traditional materials.  I will have very little to say about your IPod, I confess. I will survey some of  the promise that nano-materials hold for applications in technology and medicine.  Yet, there are challenges that come with great promise,  and I will provide some perspectives on why Nature presents unique obstacles in nano-science and nano-technology.  Finally, I will respond to a slight variation on Tina Turner's rhetorical question:  what's math got to do with it?

For more information visit: http://sci.odu.edu/sci/news_events/MGregoryForest.pdf

Colloqium, 4:30pm on February 8 at OCNPS 100

Modeling the nano-materials pipeline:  some successes and the challenges ahead

M. Gregory Forest,
Grant Dahlstrom Distinguished Professor
Departments of Mathematics & Biomedical Engineering
Co-Director, Institute for Advanced Materials, Nanoscience & Technology
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Abstract:  There is a preponderance of evidence to suggest that property performance capabilities are greatly enhanced with designer nano-scale particles. These particles could be synthesized or  naturally occurring, they could be macromolecules or larger particles, but with at least one dimension on the order of  nanometers to "qualify" for the nano label.  I will talk about a special class of nano-materials that involve macromolecules which are highly anisotropic: either thin rods or thin platelets. There are many examples of such nano-materials with a variety of remarkable performance properties that have been illustrated. This lecture will focus on a strategy for modeling the pipeline, from the raw materials throught processing to performance evaluation, and an update on progress thus far.  One of the take-home messages is that there are fundamental scientific advances necessary to control and optimize nano-materials, with a wealth of challenges ahead.

Past Lecture Series:

• 1995 - Chaos and the Environment
• 1996 - Global change and "Geophysiology": Man's Impact on Biogeochemical Cycles
• 1997 - The Frigid World of Ultracold Matter: From Bose-Einstein Condensation to Optical Tweezers
• 1998 - Naturally Occurring Rapid Change in Global Climate
• 1999 - Emerging Infectious Diseases
• 2000 - Investigating Modern Pseudoscience
• 2001 - Bioinformatics
• 2002 - Emerging Scientists
• 2003 - Science and Health Promotion in the 21st Century
• 2004 - High Performance Computing and its Application to Science
• 2005 - Digital Preservation
• 2006 - PORTS - Portal to the World Distinguished Lecture Series