Nanotechnology: An Overview and Opportunities for Computational Modeling

Nanotechnology is an enabling technology that is expected to have an impact on electronics, computing, data storage, materials and manufacturing, health and medicine, energy and environment, national security and other sectors. Fundamental to all this is development of nanostructured materials with novel and interesting properties. Examples include carbon nanotubes, inorganic nanowires, nanoparticles, quantum dots, dendrimers, etc. characterization of these nanomaterials and understanding their properties is the next important aspect of research in nanoscience and technology. Beyond these comes application development: devices, sensors, nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS), composites, etc. to name a few. The talk will provide an overview of the above with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and inorganic nanowires as nanomaterial examples.