Foresight has had a long-term interest in the directed evolution of nanoscale science and technology toward productive nanosystems and atomically precise manufacturing (see, for example, the 2007 Technology Roadmap for Productive Nanosystems and the 2013 conference Illuminating Atomic Precision). Foresight has also had a parallel interest in integrating incremental advances in nanotechnology to meet pressing human needs (see, for example, the Foresight Nanotechnology Challenges and the 2014 conference The Integration Conference). Bringing together these parallel interests, a recent invitation-only workshop gathered leading researchers to focus on the opportunities created to better meet human energy needs through greater control over the structure of matter. Not every useful advance in nanoscience and nanotechnology will lead to molecular/atomically precise manufacturing, and molecular/atomically precise manufacturing will not be required for every advance in nanotechnology to meet human needs, but just where do the greatest opportunities lie?
—James Lewis, PhD
Directed/Programmable Matter for Energy (DPM) Workshop
A small, highly interactive 2-1/2 day meeting focused on long-term prospects for revolutionary advances in energy storage, transmission, and generation based on improved precision in our control of matter was held September 5-7, 2014 in Palo Alto, California.
Wide-ranging thinkers, firmly grounded in a deep and broad understanding of current science, facilitated future research directions, encouraged the formation of new multidisciplinary teams, and sped nanoscale advances in the energy field.
Workshop participants
Representing the lab of Charles M Lieber
Robert Day, Graduate Student
Lieber Research Group, Harvard University
Representing the lab of James M Tour
Yang Yang, PhD & Almaz Jalilov, PhD
James M Tour Group, Rice University
Representing the lab of Chad A Mirkin
Robert MacFarlane, Graduate Student
Mirkin Research Group, Northwestern University
Charles Musgrave, First Feynman Prize Winner – 1993
Professor and Associate Chair
Chemical and Biological Engineering, Professor and Associate Chair, University of Colorado Boulder
Representing the lab of Nitash P. Balsara
Katherine Harry, PhD Candidate
Balsara Research Group, UC Berkeley
Representing the lab of Alex Zettl
Onur Ergen, PhD Candidate
Zettl Research Group, UC Berkeley
Representing the lab of Paul Alivisatos
Karthish Manthiram, Graduate Student
Alivisatos Research Group, UC Berkeley
Martin Edelstein, Ph.D.
Covalent LLC and Aqua Via Ltd
Representing the lab of Anne Sophie Duwez
Nicolas Willet, PhD Researcher – Lecturer
NanoChemistry & Molecular Systems Laboratory
Universite de Liege
Representing the lab of Jeffrey Neaton
Tess Eleonora Smidt, Graduate Student
The Neaton Group, UC Berkeley and the Molecular Foundry
Christian Schafmeister, Feynman Prize Winner – 2005
Associate Professor
Schafmeister Research Group, Temple University
David Forrest, ScD, PE, FASM
Technology Manager
Advanced Manufacturing Office, U.S. Department of Energy
