CNSI opening envisions exciting future for nanotechnology

December 18 , 2007 - By Cynthia Lee

They came to marvel at the most technologically complex structure ever built at UCLA and at the futuristic innovations that are already being created within its walls.

Leaders from UCLA, industry and government who had a hand in the creation of the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI), scientists from many different fields and guests gathered Dec. 14 for the dedication of its new UCLA home in the Court of Sciences.

Celebrants milled amiably about outdoors on the top floor of Parking Structure 9 below a soaring network of bridges — straight out of a Harry Potter movie — that crisscross and connect different parts of the Rafael Vinoly-designed building.

More than anything, the connecting bridges symbolize what CNSI is all about: creation through intense collaboration.

"Today we celebrate collaboration and its ability to change the world and create a new future," Chancellor Gene Block told the crowd seated in an area transformed for the occasion. "Collaboration will enable CNSI to meet its potential as an incubator for life-changing discoveries and a training ground for this century's leaders in science and technology."

CNSI, a partnership between UCLA and UC Santa Barbara, was created in 2000 when then-Gov. Gray Davis launched a statewide competition to select four California Institutes of Science and Innovation that would combine the best minds of a research university and the resources and expertise of the private sector to speed early-stage research developments to the marketplace for the public benefit.

CNSI is one of three nanotechnology centers in the country recognized by the federal government. Its researchers have already been awarded approximately $350 million in federal research grants.

At the dedication, Davis recalled how then-Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan reminded him "of what a competitive advantage we have with 13 research universities" in the state. "He told me the next closest state was Massachusetts with seven. After that, no other state had more than five. I was determined to do something to keep us at the cutting edge in technological innovation."

There are early signs that California's investment is paying off bigtime. Scientists at CNSI are developing biosensors to analyze blood samples to detect minute forms of cancer. They are developing nanocomposite reverse-osmosis membranes to address critical water-sustainability needs. And a CNSI scientist has developed a polymer technology that will allow homeowners to capture solar power through curtains, windows and even paint on the house, Davis said.

Another innovation that may soon help cancer patients is being developed by CNSI in partnership with NanoPacific Holdings. The partners are building a nano-sized sphere that measures about 50 nanometers in diameter (a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter) to deliver FDA-approved chemotherapy to cancer cells.

"Seeing this project (CNSI) from inception to conclusion is one of the proudest things I did in my five years as governor," Davis said. "But I am more excited about the promise this institute holds — not just for the great people of our state, but for the planet itself."

To fulfill that promise, the 188,000-square foot, six-story building provides highly specialized state-of-the-art laboratory spaces where scientists are measuring, modifying and manipulating atoms and molecules, from the Advanced Light Microscopy/Spectroscopy Core to the Integrated NanoMaterials Lab and Personal Protection Laboratory.

For example, in the Integrated Systems Nanofabrication Clean Room facility, where the number of particles in the air is tightly restricted, researchers can interact with DNA, single molecules, proteins and other very small entities.

But also unique to the building are the spaces where scientists can meet, discuss and interact, from an auditorium to conference rooms, outdoor terraces and meeting spaces.

"We create basically infrastructure," Vinoly told the gathering at the dedication. "It's not the building that's important. It's what happens in it."

About 75 faculty members from UCLA will be working with more than 300 graduate students and postdoctoral scholars as well as industry scientists and researchers from other universities. They will come from such fields as biology, chemistry, biochemistry, physics, material science, computational science, medicine and engineering.

This new model on which CNSI has been developed is attracting worldwide attention. Last month, CNSI welcomed researchers from the University of Tokyo for a symposium on nanobiotechnology. "People are now visiting to see the types of research that is going on here and to figure out ways they can collaborate," Block noted.

While construction of the building began in 2003, it was just last July when the building was essentially complete. "But this is a complex process," said CNSI's Interim Director Leonard Rome. "Move-in will take about a year before we are fully operational." For now, only about one-third of the building is occupied.

Visit CNSI's Web site.