JAPAN NANONET BULLETIN - 72nd Issue - June 8, 2006

Robert P.H. CHANG
Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, and Director, Materials Research Institute, Northwestern University
Prof. Robert P.H. Chang earned his BS and PhD in Physics at MIT and Princeton respectively. He spent 15 years performing basic research at Bell Labs (Murray Hill). During the past 20 years he has been studying nanostructured materials and also served as director of the Materials Research Institute at Northwestern University. Prof. Chang was the founding president of the International Union of Materials Research Societies (IUMRS) with adhering bodies on all continents, and he has played a significant role working with NSF in establishing the Materials World Network. His passion in science education has led him to develop the Materials World Modules (MWM) program for pre-college students nationwide and more recently he became the director of the NSF-National Center for Learning and Teaching in Nanoscale Science and Engineering (NCLT). Prof. Chang is a recipient of the NSF Director’s Distinguish Teaching Scholar Award in 2005.

Nanotechnology world network
— Interview with Prof. Robert P.H. CHANG —

Prof. Robert P.H. Chang is a professor of materials science and engineering at Northwestern University and the director of the school’s year-old Center for Learning and Teaching in Nanoscale Science and Engineering (NCLT), which is the first of its kind in the United States. Many researchers pay attention to Global Nanotechnology Network (GNN) and Prof. Chang has played an important role in establishing GNN. During his visit to National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) in Japan, Dr. Naoki Kishimoto, NIMS, and Dr. Masahiro Takemura, nanonet, interviewed him.

Q : Prof. Chang, thank you very much for taking the time to be interviewed. How long have you worked in nanotechnology?

I’ve been working in nanomaterials research for about 20 years. I worked on fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and zinc oxide nanowires. More recently I’ve been working on nanowire-based sensors and we are establishing a research program in new applications for photonic crystals to integrate light sources, detectors and switches.

At the NCLT we train science teachers to teach nanoscience to students from middle school through college, and we are also developing nanoscience content for precollege and college students.

Q : Exactly what type of programs have you developed at the National Center to teach nanotechnology to students?

Our center has an integrated program consisting of: science education research, nano science concept development for students, professional development for science teachers, degree programs, new learning tools development, and evaluation and assessment. The components of our integrated program work together to train and educate future leaders in nano science and technology. To build capacity, we are developing web-based simulation and visualization. We tele-video and web cast lectures and seminars. We are reaching as many learners as we can. We want to encourage high school students to learn enough nano concepts, so they’re prepared to study them in more detail when they get to university. You can link to our webcasts from Japan. If you go to our website, (http://www.nclt.us), you’ll see a list of webcasts.

There are many challenges in our Center. For example, one is trying to fit nanoscience content into already crowded high-school curricula. One way we are doing this is to ask teachers to insert nano concepts into existing courses they are teaching. Our nano concepts are designed to increase relevance in science classrooms. We also have a design project to encourage innovation, discovery and invention in young people. We do extensive field-testing to make sure that our nano concepts are the best they can be.

Q : In a big country like the United States, how do you train high school teachers?

We hold regional professional development workshops and do videoconferences. Everything is web-based. The teachers download the text, but we send the kits, which we produce. We also get nanoresearchers involved in our training program. In another 15 to 20 years, we’ll need about one million nano researchers in the U.S. and one million each in Europe and Asia. So we need to start training now.

Q : And what about at the college level?

Right now young people from all corners of the world come to the U.S. to get degrees in science, then they go back to their own countries, China and India for example. So we’re losing students that we train. We need to attract more American high school students to science and engineering, mainly by offering more federal fellowships. Even with that, we need to look at the big picture - international collaboration. I don’t think any country can live independently anymore because of the cost of global energy, environmental and health issues. For example, if developed countries don’t help developing countries, there will be more global crises such as hunger, security, health, pollution, etc. And because of limited global resources, developing countries need to learn how to preserve and effectively use their resources and develop new technology in their regions. Nanoscience education and training will play a key role in their development.

Q : I understand you are trying to establish a global network to help solve these problems.

Dr. Kishimoto, NIMS

Yes, the GNN — Global Nanotechnology Network — is part of the Materials World Network, which has been supported by the National Science Foundation and its counterpart agencies around the world. The network just celebrated its 10th anniversary. Through the GNN, collaboration can happen among all regions and countries of the world. In May 2005 the GNN group met in Germany to identify four parallel strands of the network: a database, research, large-scale facilities and education.

Developing the database is the basis for getting the GNN launched. The database will include nanoresearchers’ names and affiliations, as well as participating institutions, which will tell us what kinds of facilities are available for common research. Linking large-scale facilities allows nanoresearchers to carry out research programs that otherwise would not be possible.

In the area of education, the GNN virtual library will contain files of lectures, seminars, text information and educational modules. If we get the GNN on its feet, we’ll get to know each other better. And as trust starts to build, we can develop programs that allow further expansion and growth.

To that end, we are planning the establishment of a Global School of Advanced Studies, where teams of young international researchers would come together to study and do research. We have already written a proposal to the National Science Foundation to help establish such a school. We need participation from around the world, so one of the purposes of this trip is to talk about all strands of the GNN, especially the Global School of Advanced Studies which will serve as an integrated project of the GNN. We are recruiting people from throughout the world to buy into what we are trying to do, which is to offer courses and perform team research in energy, environment and health. By offering these topics simultaneously, we can also quickly develop a database and locate facilities. My approach is to do it without a lot of bureaucracy and get it going right away.

Q : That sounds like a terrific idea. How would you organize participants and help them do experiments? Is it a kind of membership?

Dr. Takemura, nanonet

We would have a membership, but one without a fee. Then we’d invite young members from throughout the world to attend sessions of the Global School for Advanced Studies, where they can hear international experts talk about the topics I mentioned: energy, environment and health. These experts would serve as mentors to answer questions such as “What are the global issues we can collectively research?” and “What facilities can we use?” In about two weeks’ time we anticipate roughly 30 new research projects planned by teams of young researchers from all parts of the world. Then, an executive committee and advisory board would narrow down the topics to the best two or three for cutting-edge research projects to be funded by hosting institutions. They will also be able to send proposals to joint government-funding programs. The new paradigm for the 21st century is to find opportunities to carry out research together in a harmonious and mutually beneficial way. *

Q : What we should ask you is what you wish for our Nanotechnology Researchers Network Center of Japan. We have just uploaded our database of nanotechnology research organization, Nano Tech Map. I hope that meets your expectations.

I think your Center is doing an excellent job providing the leadership in database for the GNN. We need to work together to standardize our data files, so they will be compatible from different regions of the world. Again, we thank you for doing such a great job. We will follow your leadership in the years to come.

Q : Thank you very much.

* Since this interview, Prof. Chang has already gotten funding from Taiwan National Science Council and the National Science Funding to launch the first GSAS in Taiwan, September 19-29, 2006 on the topic of “Advanced Solar Cell Research”.