College of Engineering News Room
Bullish Impacts at the Sub-Nanoscale
by Russell Nay
USF Mechanical Engineering assistant professor Michael Cai Wang was recently awarded an NSF CAREER Award and plans to use it to support his work in advancing nanoscale manufacturing.
USF Mechanical Engineering assistant professor Michael Cai Wang was awarded an NSF CAREER Award this February. The National Science Foundation CAREER award is 鈥渢he most prestigious award in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization鈥� as described by NSF.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a definite morale booster for my lab and a strong affirmation that we鈥檙e moving in the right direction,鈥� Wang said. 鈥淚鈥檓 very grateful for the support from NSF鈥檚 Advanced Manufacturing program, and this award will support basic and translational research aligned with the mission of our university to be a regionally, nationally, and globally-engaged public metropolitan research university.鈥�
Wang鈥檚 lab 鈥� the NanoManufacturing, NanoMaterials, NanoMechanics Laboratory (NM3L) 鈥� is developing new methods for scalable manufacturing of materials precisely controlled at the sub-nanometer, or 脜ngstr枚m scale.
A nanometer is a billionth of a meter, and for reference, dimensions of viruses are on the order of tens to hundreds of nanometers. An 脜ngstr枚m 鈥� the level of manufacturing precision Wang鈥檚 team is pursuing 鈥� is a tenth of a nanometer. Materials manufactured accurately at this extreme sub-nanometer scale can be given extremely precise and unprecedented properties. They鈥檙e capable of selectively confining and sieving molecules and act conceptually like a complex shape sorting toy with designer geometries and arbitrary layers.
These materials could be used in a number of applications, like increasing pharmaceutical drug yields, speeding up the process of biomolecule sequencing, helping to curb reliance of rare earth elements, and stabilizing quantum computing components.
鈥淲e have robust facilities, and a special shoutout has to go to the Nanotechnology Research and Education Center here 鈥� to Robert Tufts and the entire team 鈥� because without NREC, none of my work here at USF is possible,鈥� Wang said.
This isn鈥檛 all that Wang鈥檚 NSF CAREER Award supports, however. Integrated with his lab鈥檚 research are several educational and outreach initiatives designed to engage students of various ages and backgrounds with nanomaterials-centered research and experiences at USF, serving as a long-term recruiting mechanism for the university and college.
Wang鈥檚 specific target groups include veteran students, students from local community colleges and non-four-year schools, and K-12 students who are currently underrepresented in engineering.
This involves partnerships with institutions like the Florida Advanced Technological Education Center and Hillsborough Community College. HCC students and transfer students coming to USF are extended research opportunities at NM3L, and community college teachers state-wide will be invited for annual, two-day workshops at USF on the latest advances in nanoscale manufacturing technologies.
The wide applicability of his lab鈥檚 research makes it an effective window into engineering research at USF for many potential students. Wang said it鈥檚 all part of fostering the training of a diverse and globally-competitive advanced manufacturing workforce and a vibrant student body at USF.
鈥淐onstant dripping wears away the stone,鈥� Wang said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 this persistent, unrelenting effort to get students through the pipeline of our future scientific and engineering workforce.鈥�
Wang said he came to USF because of its status as a large up-and-coming university with potential to make significant advances in its international stature. He hopes that even as a relatively young faculty member, he鈥檒l have an impact on USF鈥檚 trajectory as a university for years to come.
鈥淚 think I鈥檓 going to be doing research until my deathbed,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his (NSF CAREER award) allows me to do ambitious, long-term research. We can go after the crazy ideas that no one鈥檚 thought of or no one thinks would work.鈥�