NSF Funds Nanotechnology Research at Auburn

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a two-year, $200,000 grant to Samuel Ginn College of Engineering faculty member Christine Curtis, who will lead a team that includes James Bradley of the Biological Sciences Department and Roderick Long of the Philosophy Department, to research the societal, ethical and environmental effects of nanotechnology.

Nanotechnology is the development of materials, devices and systems with molecular structures based on the scale of nanometers, or one-billionth of a meter. Although nanotechnology products may seem out of our realm of reality, scientists could one day be using nanorobots the size of a molecule to make products such as medicine or food.

In addition to the Auburn team, Curtis is joined in her research by a number of project associates and researchers from Tuskegee University and Auburn University at Montgomery.

The NSF grant will be used to finance the development of material for a sophomore-level course entitled "Ethics of the Nanoscale," which will be implemented to study the science and engineering of nanotechnology as well as its societal, ethical and environmental implications. The course will be open to students of any major and will be linked by satellite from Auburn, Tuskegee and Auburn Montgomery. The grant will also support modules in several core courses.
 
Curtis is a long-time member of the Department of Chemical Engineering faculty who has also served within the University's administration. She received her doctoral degree in chemical engineering from Florida State University in 1976; her research interests include alternative fuel sources, advanced energy systems and clean coal technology.

"We want to educate our students on how nanotechnology will affect our society and what ethical and societal decisions we are going to have to make in the future," says Curtis. "Ultimately, this technology has the potential to change our world."