$10 million Research Program Taking Radical Departure to Realize Functional Nanotechnology Devices
(APRIL 11, 2003)

Edmonton...A remarkable Canadian researcher has come to Alberta to head up a $10 million research program that aims to develop functional nanotechnology devices.

"Alberta welcomes Dr. Wolkow and other talented researchers looking to relocate to the province," said Victor Doerksen, Minister of Alberta Innovation and Science. "Research is the key to developing new ideas and discoveries that can lead to innovation. The ultimate benefit from these ideas and discoveries is when they are translated into new and improved products or services for enhancing the quality of our lives."

Dr. Robert Wolkow has moved from Ottawa where he was Leader of the Molecular Interfaces Program of the National Research Council's (NRC) Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences, to take up a five-year term as iCORE Chair of Nanoscale Information and Communication Technologies. This program is jointly funded by the Alberta Informatics Circle of Research Excellence (iCORE), the University of Alberta and the National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) of the NRC headquartered in Edmonton.

"A key driving force behind my move here is to find broad thinking and stimulating collaborators who will help explore an altogether new roadmap for understanding and fabricating molecular-scale devices," Dr. Wolkow explains. "Together, the University of Alberta and NINT have the potential to provide an environment for collaboration that is, in my view, unrivalled in Canada and equal to any in the world."

Dr. Wolkow was one of the youngest scientists invited to join the Royal Society of Canada, when he became a Fellow in 2002 at age 42. He has a string of achievement awards from every institution he has joined and is now committed to building on the opportunity emerging in Alberta, catalyzing a world-renowned research cluster in nanoscale science and technology.

"Alberta offers the ideal environment - a pioneering spirit, support for risk-taking, a commitment to excellence, and a world class vision - for scientists like Dr. Wolkow," says iCORE President and CEO Brian Unger.

University of Alberta president Rod Fraser says this appointment will have a dramatic effect on the momentum that surrounds an already excellent research program. "We can expect to see the university's reputation in nanoscale research multiply and expand with Dr. Wolkow's addition to the faculty, helping to foster a burgeoning interdisciplinary community."