The institute was launched at a reception Dec.  4 at its headquarters in the $87.8-million Nano Engineering and Sciences Building. During the event, speakers including 91̽»¨officials and NanoES partners celebrated the NanoES mission to capitalize on the university’s strong record of research at the nanoscale and engage partners in industry at the onset of new projects.

The vision of the NanoES, which is part of the UW’s , is to act as a magnet for researchers in nanoscale science and engineering, with a focus on enabling industry partnership and entrepreneurship at the earliest stages of research projects. According to , director of the NanoES and a 91̽»¨professor of electrical engineering and bioengineering, this unique approach will hasten the development of solutions to the field’s most pressing challenges: the manufacturing of scalable, high-yield nano-engineered systems for applications in information processing, energy, health and interconnected life.

“The 91̽»¨ is well known for its expertise in nanoscale materials, processing, physics and biology — as well as its cutting-edge nanofabrication, characterization and testing facilities,” said Böhringer, who stepped down as director of the UW-based to lead the NanoES. “NanoES will build on these strengths, bringing together people, tools and opportunities to develop nanoscale devices and systems.”

The centerpiece of the NanoES is its headquarters, the Nano Engineering and Sciences Building. The building houses 90,300 square feet of research and learning space, and was funded largely by the College of Engineering and . It contains an active learning classroom, a teaching laboratory and a 3,000-square-foot common area designed expressly to promote the sharing and exchanging of ideas. The remainder includes “incubator-style” office space and more than 40,000 square feet of flexible multipurpose laboratory and instrumentation space. The building’s location and design elements are intended to limit vibrations and electromagnetic interference so it can house sensitive experiments.

NanoES will house research in nanotechnology fields that hold promise for high impact, such as:

• Augmented humanity, which includes technology to both aid and replace human capability in a way that joins user and machine as one – and foresees portable, wearable, implantable and networked technology for applications such as personalized medical care, among others.
• Integrated photonics, which ranges from single-photon sensors for health care diagnostic tests to large-scale, integrated networks of photonic devices.
• Scalable nanomanufacturing, which aims to develop low-cost, high-volume manufacturing processes. These would translate device prototypes constructed in research laboratories into system- and network-level nanomanufacturing methods for applications ranging from the 3-D printing of cell and tissue scaffolds to ultrathin solar cells.

Collaborations with other UW-based institutions will provide additional resources for the NanoES. Endeavors in scalable nanomanufacturing, for example, will rely on the roll-to-roll processing facility at the 91̽»¨‘s or on advanced surface characterization capabilities at the . In addition, the Washington Nanofabrication Facility recently completed a three-year, $37 million upgrade to raise it to an ISO Class 5 nanofabrication facility.

91̽»¨faculty and outside collaborators will build new research programs in the Nano Engineering and Sciences Building. , a 91̽»¨professor of electrical engineering, recently moved part of his synthetic biology research team to the building, adjacent to his collaborators in the and the .

“We are extremely excited about the interdisciplinary and collaborative potential of the new space,” said Klavins.

The NanoES also has already produced its first spin-out company, Tunoptix, which was co-founded by Böhringer and recently received startup funding from , a U.K.-based venture capital firm.

“IP Group is very excited to work with the 91̽»¨,” said Nena Golubovic, physical sciences director for IP Group. “We are looking forward to the new collaborations and developments in science and technology that will grow from this new partnership.”

“We are eager to work with our partners at the IP Group to bring our technology to the market, and we appreciate their vision and investment in the NanoES Integrated Photonics Initiative,” said Tunoptix entrepreneurial lead Mike Robinson. “NanoES was the ideal environment in which to start our company.”

The NanoES leaders hope to forge similar partnerships with researchers, investors and industry leaders to develop technologies for portable, wearable, implantable and networked nanotechnologies for personalized medical care, a more efficient interconnected life and interconnected mobility. In addition to expertise, personnel and state-of-the-art research space and equipment, the NanoES will provide training, research support and key connections to capital and corporate partners.

“We believe this unique approach is the best way to drive innovations from idea to fabrication to scale-up and testing,” said Böhringer. “Some of the most promising solutions to these huge challenges are rooted in nanotechnology.”

The NanoES is supported by funds from the College of Engineering and the National Science Foundation, as well as capital investments from investors and industry partners.

###

For more information, contact Böhringer at 206-221-5177 or karl@ee.washington.edu and Jevne Micheau-Cunningham, deputy director of the NanoES, at 206-685-3015 or jevne@uw.edu.

For start-up companies looking to make chips with nanoscale features for sequencing DNA or wafers for industrial barcode printing, the equipment costs to fabricate those parts could easily devour every last dollar of seed funding.

The same goes for grant-funded researchers designing quantum information devices or micro-scale sensors to measure cell movement— which is where the comes in.

The WNF makes things that aren’t practical, economical or possible to fabricate at commercial foundries — inconceivably tiny parts, chips made from unconventional materials that industrial factories won’t touch, devices that probe the boundaries of our universe. Part of the , the lab on the 91̽»¨ campus is the largest publicly accessible nanofabrication facility north of Berkeley and west of Minneapolis.

To serve growing demand for nanofabrication services, the 91̽»¨Board of Regents has approved spending up to $37 million to renovate the facility, which is housed in . The overhaul, scheduled to begin in November, will upgrade basic building systems and roughly double the amount of highly-specialized fabrication space that academics and entrepreneurs increasingly rely on to build innovative devices.

The “fab lab” in Fluke Hall — currently used by 48 91̽»¨faculty members and 134 students — has supported $32 million in 91̽»¨research grant funding this year. A third of its 223 users are with commercial companies, which range from multinational corporations to 91̽»¨spinouts to minority-owned local start-ups. Regional demand for nanofabrication services is growing rapidly, with WNF revenues nearly tripling in the last four years.

“The Washington Nanofabrication Facility is vital to my existence,” said Jevne Branden Micheau-Cunningham, who launched a new company called FLEXFORGE six months ago. He’s using WNF equipment and expertise to manufacture nanoscale electronics with applications in the automotive, aerospace and medical devices industries.

“It allows entrepreneurs such as myself to flesh out ideas and bring products to life — the costs to get up and running on my own would have been prohibitive,” said Micheau-Cunningham. “Nanofabrication is also a pretty specific thing, and they’ve really looked over my shoulder throughout the process.”

The WNF houses nearly 100 different pieces of equipment that perform everything from electron beam lithography and atomic layer deposition to plasma etching and wafer bonding. User fees paid by academic and non-university clients are invested back into the facility. Applications for the devices those tools enable range from tissue engineering and silicon photonics to semiconductor technologies and basic scientific research.

“Fabrication is basically a repetitive sequence of steps where we add or subtract material to create the microsystems and devices that people ask for,” said WNF associate director . “A lot of companies don’t have fabrication experts, so we also do a lot of design assistance and handholding to take an idea or concept and engineer a process and turn it into a prototype.”

The 91̽»¨assumed ownership of the nonprofit nanofabrication facility in 2011, which was formerly run by the Washington Department of Commerce. Through private donations, grants, 91̽»¨funding and corporate gifts, the lab has invested in excess of $8 million over the last four years to modernize tools and equipment.

But the infrastructure in Fluke Hall, built in 1988, needs upgrades to meet basic safety and environmental standards and the highly specialized needs of nanofabrication users. The renovation, which will be done in three phases over 14 months to minimize downtime, will allow the lab to better control temperature, humidity and air quality inside the “clean room,” where unwelcome fluctuations can poison an entire production line.

“One dust speck can damage a device if it’s in the wrong place, so this renovation will make a major difference,” said WNF director , a 91̽»¨professor of electrical engineering and of bioengineering. “The other advantage will be having more space — usage and revenues have increased, and we are bursting at the seams.”

By helping fledgling companies realize prototypes and develop scalable production processes, the WNF plays an important role in the region’s innovation ecosystem. With funding from the Washington Research Foundation, the lab has awarded $140,000 in that help bridge the gap from academic or applied research to commercialization of micro-fabricated devices. So far, those grants have supported two 91̽»¨spin-out companies.

The nanofabrication lab also offers an undergraduate research program for students who spend up to three years learning how to calibrate and operate the highly sensitive and specialized equipment. This summer’s program will include 20 91̽»¨undergrads, up from three in 2011.

The electronics industry workforce that spurred the development of personal computers and mobile devices is aging and retiring; nationwide there is a shortage of engineers entering the workforce to backfill essential positions and skillsets. By training students in real-world challenges, the WNF’s workforce development mission supports the future success of the U.S. tech industry.

“When they leave here, they’re highly sought-after in the semiconductor and electronics and aerospace worlds,” Khbeis said. “Every one of our students has multiple offers, and those companies are extremely happy to get them.”

For more information, contact Khbeis and Böhringer at wnf-info@coral.engr.washington.edu.

91̽»¨ engineers have designed a low-power sensor that could be placed permanently in a person’s eye to track hard-to-measure changes in eye pressure. The sensor would be embedded with an artificial lens during cataract surgery and would detect pressure changes instantaneously, then transmit the data wirelessly using radio frequency waves.

The researchers recently published in the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering and filed patents on an initial prototype of the pressure-monitoring device.

“No one has ever put electronics inside the lens of the eye, so this is a little more radical,” said , a 91̽»¨professor of electrical engineering and of bioengineering. “We have shown this is possible in principle. If you can fit this sensor device into an intraocular lens implant during cataract surgery, it won’t require any further surgery for patients.”

The research team wanted to find an easy way to measure eye pressure for management of , a group of diseases that damage the eye’s optic nerve and can cause blindness. Right now there are two ways to check eye pressure, but both require a visit to the ophthalmologist. At most, patients at risk for glaucoma may only get their pressure checked several times a year, said , a collaborator and 91̽»¨professor of ophthalmology.

But if ophthalmologists could insert a pressure monitoring system in the eye with an artificial lens during cataract surgery – now a common procedure performed on 3 million to 4 million people each year to remove blurry vision or glare caused by a hazy lens – that could save patients from a second surgery and essentially make their replacement lens “smarter” and more functional.

“The implementation of the monitoring device has to be well-suited clinically and must be designed to be simple and reliable,” Shen said. “We want every surgeon who does cataract surgeries to be able to use this.”

The 91̽»¨engineering team, which includes Brian Otis, an associate professor of electrical engineering and also with Google Inc., and Cagdas Varel and Yi-Chun Shih, both former doctoral students in electrical engineering, built a prototype that uses radio frequency for wireless power and data transfer. A thin, circular antenna spans the perimeter of the device – roughly tracing a person’s iris – and harnesses enough energy from the surrounding field to power a small pressure sensor chip. The chip communicates with a close-by receiver about any shifts in frequency, which signify a change in pressure. Actual pressure is then calculated and those changes are tracked and recorded in real-time.

The chip’s processing mechanism is actually very simple, leaving the computational heavy lifting to the nearby receiver, which could be a handheld device or possibly built into a smartphone, Böhringer said.

The current prototype is larger than it would need to be to fit into an artificial lens, but the research team is confident it can be downscaled through more engineering. The team has successfully tested the sensing device embedded in the same flexible silicon material that’s used to create artificial lenses in cataract surgeries.

Similar to how a person’s blood pressure varies throughout the day with activity levels, eye pressure is thought to behave similarly, changing perhaps minute by minute. If the pressure in the eye is too high for the optic nerve to function, however, damage to the eye can begin, often with no pain or warning signs. This increased intraocular pressure is the main factor in glaucoma, which causes vision loss and ultimately blindness.

“Oftentimes damage to vision is noticed late in the game, and we can’t treat patients effectively by the time they are diagnosed with glaucoma,” Shen said. “Or, if medications are given, there’s no consistent way to check their effectiveness.”

As a result, many patients with the disease aren’t diagnosed early enough or aren’t on an accurate treatment plan, she added.

Both cataracts and glaucoma affect a similar aging population so it seems a natural pairing to place a pressure monitoring device in a new lens during cataract surgery, researchers said.

The team is working on downscaling the prototype to be tested in an actual artificial lens. Designing a final product that’s affordable for patients is the ultimate goal, researchers said.

“I think if the cost is reasonable and if the new device offers information that’s not measureable by current technology, patients and surgeons would be really eager to adopt it,” Shen said.

The research was funded by the Coulter Foundation and the UW. Buddy Ratner, a 91̽»¨professor of bioengineering and of chemical engineering, and Felix Simonovsky, a 91̽»¨bioengineering research scientist, also contributed to this work.

###

For more information, contact Böhringer at karl@ee.washington.edu or 206-221-5177 and Shen at ttshen@uw.edu or 206-616-8488.

“This allows us to move drops as far as we want, and in any kind of layout that we want,” said , a 91̽»¨professor of electrical engineering and bioengineering. The low-cost system, published in a recent issue of the journal , would require very little energy and avoids possible contamination by diluting or electrifying the samples in order to move them.

The simple technology is a textured surface that tends to push drops along a given path. It’s inspired by the – a phenomenon in which a lotus leaf’s almost fractal texture makes it appear to repel drops of water.

“The lotus leaf has a very rough surface, in which each big bump has a smaller bump on it,” Böhringer said. “We can’t make our surface exactly the same as a lotus leaf, but what we did is extract the essence of why it works.”

Researchers used an audio speaker or machine to vibrate the platform at 50 to 80 times per second.  The asymmetrical surface moves individual drops along predetermined paths to mix, modify or measure their contents. Changing the vibration frequency can alter a drop’s speed, or can target a drop of a certain size or weight.

“All you need is a vibration, and making these surfaces is very easy. You can make it out of a piece of plastic,” Böhringer said. “I could imagine this as a device that costs less than a dollar – maybe much less than that – and is used with saliva or blood or water samples.”

The type of system is known as a “lab in a drop”: all the ingredients are inside the drop, and surface tension acts as the container to keep everything together.

A student tried using a smartphone’s speaker to vibrate the platform, but so far a phone does not supply enough energy to move the drops. To better accommodate low-energy audio waves, the group will use the to build a surface with posts up to 100 times smaller.

“There’s good evidence, from what we’ve done so far, that if we make everything smaller then we will need less energy to achieve the same effect,” Böhringer said. “We envision a device that you plug into your phone, its powered by the battery of the phone, an app generates the right type of audio vibrations, and you run your experiment.”

Co-authors of the paper are former 91̽»¨undergraduate Todd Duncombe and former 91̽»¨graduate student Yegȃn Erdem, both at the University of California, Berkeley; former 91̽»¨postdoctoral researcher Ashutosh Shastry, now at Corium International in Menlo Park, Calif.; and , a 91̽»¨affiliate assistant professor of electrical engineering who works at Intel Corp.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, Intel and the UW’s Technology Gap Innovation Fund.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLslhWUiiRs

###

For more information, contact Böhringer at 206-221-5177 or karl@ee.washington.edu.