About the Institute

History

The Alan G. MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute is a research center that attracts interdisciplinary scientists from around the world and is dedicated to original science and technological discoveries on the nanoscale.

The roots of the NanoTech Institute grew from the recruitment of Dr. Ray Baughman to UTD. UTD matched a $1million gift from the Robert A. Welch Foundation to fund the Robert A. Welch Chair in Chemistry and directorship of the institute, both of which are held by Baughman. With the appointment of Dr. Alan MacDiarmid, who shared the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, as Chairman of the Advisory Board and Dr. Anvar Zakhidov as Professor of Physics and Associate Director, the NanoTech Institute became reality.

In 2007 the UT System approved officially changing the name of the Institute to the Alan G. MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute to honor the life and dedication to science and education of one of its founding members who passed away in February of the same year.

Much of the fundamental science being done today will develop into useful technologies in the next twenty years. This forward-leaning characteristic fuels the institute’s strong commitment to educating and training the next generation of scientists.

The Alan G. MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute participates in many outreach programs, including the George A. Jeffrey NanoExplorers program, which introduces middle school and high school students to their first research experiences. Since the program’s inception in 2002, over 250 students have had their first research experience in the Institute. These students have co-authored numerous technical presentations and journal articles, presented posters at international conferences, and won major international science competitions.

Since the NanoTech Institute’s establishment in the fall of 2001, the group has produced over 200 refereed journal articles (with almost 10,000 citations), 16 of which have been published in Science or Nature.