The Ohio State University

Abstract:
Over the centuries, there have been a variety of tools invented to extend one’s “vision” from telescopes to probe outer space to microscopes to probe inner space. In the past two decades there has been a veritable explosion of different tools being used to explore inner space. In part, this explosion has been fueled by the increased capability of semiconductor technology, not only for designing and controlling large-scale tools, but also by the technology used to make the chips themselves. This explosion has been driven also by the ability to be able to construct new materials from the bottom up in a variety of different ways. These technologies have led to a new paradigm for discovery in that the interrogator necessarily no longer needs to be orders of magnitude than the object itself under “interrogation”, but rather they can be the same order of magnitude in size.

I will explore the modes of vision we used for interrogation of the micro/nano world and examine how micro-miniaturization leads to new diagnostic and manipulation tools. Discussion will include examples at the interfaces of biotic-abiotic systems, which could be used for diagnostic or prosthetic purposes. Finally, I will briefly describe the inherent problems that occur in communication at these interfaces, often due to language mismatch.

Bio:
Michael Isaacson is the Narinder Singh Kapany Professor of Optoelectronics and Acting Dean of the Baskin School of Engineering at the University of California at Santa Cruz. He received his B.S. degree in Engineering Physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Chicago. He has been on the scientific staff in the Division of Biology at Brookhaven National Laboratory and a member of the faculty of the Physics Department and the Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago. He was Professor of Applied and Engineering Physics, Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies and Director of the W.M.Keck Foundation Program in Nanobiotechnology at Cornell University before moving to UCSC in 2003. His research interests include  development of novel nanocharacterization tools using electron and photon optics and the fabrication of nano/microdevices for biomedical applications. In addition to being a fellow of the AAAS, among numerous awards are an Alexander von Humboldt Senior Scientist award, the Burton Medal from the Microscopy Society of America and the Rank Prize in Optoelectronics.