California NanoSystems Institute: Big Ideas to Create Small Things

Nanoscience spans a range of disciplines including chemistry, mathematics, physics, biology, and medicine. Recognizing the need to bring researchers from these fields together, the Universities of California at Los Angeles and Santa Barbara have joined to create the California NanoSystems Institute. The goals of the institute are to create a multidisciplinary center for nanosystems research and development, and to develop commercial applications of nanosystems technology. The new CNSI building, designed by Rafael Vinoly Architects, is expected to be completed by December 2005 on the UCLA campus and will include an Integrated Molecular Systems Facility (INMOS) designed for "linking top-down semiconductor fabrication with biologically and chemically assembled molecular materials." The new center will eventually offer graduate degrees in nanosystems research and technology. This video provides an introduction to the center and its mission.