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Dr
Robert Wolkow
iCORE Nanoscale Information
and Communication Technologies
Dr Wolkow
has received an iCORE Chair and Professor
Establishment (CPE) grant of $750,000
per year for five years, for a total of
$3.75 million, to lead a $10 million research
program called Nanoscale Information and
Communication Technologies. ICORE's investment
represents roughly 39% of the total $10
million budget. Another $1.5 million in
capital is invested by the National Institute
for Nanotechnology of the National Research
Council over the first three years. NINT
is also contributing $600,000 per year
for the five years in operating funding.
The University of Alberta is contributing
$35,000 per year for a total of $1.75
million.
Biographical
Information
Dr Robert A Wolkow has been recruited
to Alberta from Ottawa, where he was leader
of the Molecular Interfaces Program of
the Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences.
He received his BSc Honours in applied
chemistry from the University of Waterloo
in 1982 and PhD in chemistry from the
University of Toronto in 1987. After graduation
he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at
IBM where, beginning with an empty room,
he built-up a lab and showed, for the
first time, that scanning tunneling microscopy
(STM) was a uniquely powerful tool for
the study of chemical processes. This
study initiated the new field of atom-scale
surface chemistry. He then moved on to
become a member of the technical staff
at AT&T Bell Laboratories, where he
tackled technical challenges that were
widely thought to be insurmountable, and
developed the first variable temperature
cryogenic STM. He joined the Steacie Institute
in 1994 as a senior research officer,
and produced four key research results
in the first two years, all relating to
first-time ever views of the dynamics
of molecules on surfaces. These are key
to understanding and fabricating nanoscale
devices. More recently, he achieved a
breakthrough in the understanding of the
early stages of molecule-surface interactions,
which was published in the journal Science.
Another significant development was reported
recently in the journal Nature, which
has helped make the tools of the surface
physicist relevant and accessible to chemists.
Dr
Wolkow became principle research officer
at the Steacie Institute in 2000 and leader
of the molecular interfaces program the
following year. During his time at the
Institute, he was also adjunct professor
of chemistry at the University of Ottawa
and adjunct professor of physics at McGill
University. He became a member of Canadian
Institute for Advanced Research nanoelectronics
program in 2002.
He
has received awards for outstanding achievement
from almost every institution he has worked,
including the T.J. Watson IBM Outstanding
Achievement Award, Steacie Institute for
Molecular Sciences Outstanding Achievement
Award, National Research Council of Canada
Outstanding Achievement Award, Royal Society
of Canada Rutherford Memorial Medal, and
the Noranda Award of the Canadian Society
for Chemistry. He became a fellow of the
Academy of Science of the Royal Society
of Canada in 2000.
Dr
Wolkow has played an active role on many
conference and other event organizing
committees, and maintains a strong focus
on the development of future researchers
through support for students and postdoctoral
fellows. He also works to increase science
awareness and education and has worked
extensively with media to make nanotechnology
accessible to lay audiences.
Research Program Overview
Dr
Robert Wolkow, through his appointment
as an iCORE Chair, affiliated with the
Department of Physics at the University
of Alberta and National Institute for
Nanotechnology, will explore fundamental
concepts for molecular computational building
blocks.
This
research team is taking a radical departure
from convention, shaped by a belief that
new nanoscale-level understanding of and
control over matter is ripe for revolutionary
developments. Even from a conservative
standpoint, Wolkow says that it now appears
reasonable to bet that powerful new capabilities
will emerge from control over the nanoscale.
Wolkow's team will work in the scientific
discipline at the center of this new capability
- chemical physics - the study of molecules
with the tools and mindset of the physicist
and with the aim of understanding, controlling,
and harnessing molecules as structural
and active components.
The
challenges for the team are significant.
The potential to create a new technology
is one thing, but a working device, even
a primitive prototype is quite another.
Dr Wolkow plans to work on a host of coordinated,
forefront research activities that feed
into a logical path and rationale that
leads research forward toward working
prototypes.
Dr
Wolkow has pondered molecules as devices
for 15 years, and offers the following
introduction to the thinking behind his
research program based in Alberta:
- We
know that molecules can achieve computational
feats beyond the ability of any computer
made by people. For example, our brains
allow us to easily recognize a face
and even the gender, age and mood of
a person after just a glance while no
computer can come close to that capability.
Many other examples can be cited. So
the question isn't, can molecules perform
computations? The question is, how do
we fit a harness onto molecules and
put them to work?
- To
be practical, functional nanostructured
systems will need to be largely self
assembled.
- Discriminating
mating interactions between molecular
groups can be designed - a capacity
not shared by our familiar semiconductor
systems - and one that suggests we can
design self-assembling molecular systems.
- Molecules
can be thought of as prefabricated units
that come with predetermined and unique
size, shape, flexibility, chemical and
physical affinities, electronic spectra,
thermal conductivity, and more. Because
we have the potential to put into place
in one step a complex functional unit,
we may be able to drastically reduce
the number of processing steps, and
therefore the cost of making devices.
- It
is clear that in order to achieve competitive
computational capacity - whether aimed
at rational decision making (AI) or
massive mathematical calculations -
we will need systems of very substantial
complexity.
Research Team
In addition to Dr Wolkow, the immediate research team includes two research council officers in NINT, one research associate, three postdoctoral fellows, three graduate students, one admin, one technicians, and one machinist. Dr Wolkow is planning to foster a rich collaborative and cross-disciplinary environment which enables not only his team but related teams that form as appropriate to attack key problems across disciplines - in medicine, physics, chemistry, engineering - with vigour and excellence. He currently has active partnerships with theorists in London and Liverpool, as well as Taiwan, with whom he is exploring new methods for nanostructure fabrication.
Related Links:
National Institute for Nanotechnology
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