Homeland Security Workshop
released 04.29.04
Contact
Reneé Mullen
rmullen@uiuc.edu
217.244.7716
URBANA, IL —
Nanotechnology has a large potential to assist with homeland security efforts and the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) is leading the way as a provider of the latest research and technology.
To showcase this research and other findings, the University of Illinois Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST), an initiative of the College of Engineering, is hosting the Nanotechnology in Homeland Security Workshop on May 6-7, 2004.
Combining the unique strength of the UIUC in engineering, agriculture, biology, food sciences, information sciences and veterinary medicine, the workshop will feature research that has already resulted or will soon result in technology beneficial to homeland security. Speakers include distinguished staff from the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House, among many others. Sessions will address nanotechnology and issues pertaining to: - The Food Chain: "From the Farm to the Fork" – How nanotechnology can enable us to address these threats with regard to the need for sensors such as radio frequency identification tags (RFID) for animal tagging and grain tracing from the farm to consumers. This has potential applications for prevention or containment of diseases such as mad cow, bird flu, etc.
- Water Safety: Addressing potential concerns such as soil contamination and waterway contamination, Blue Baby Syndrome (a blood disorder caused by contaminated water), and the use of nanotechnology to detect viruses in water.
- Chem/Biosensing: Discussing forensic and military personnel applications in the field. Examples of this are the detection of chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial agents.
- Anthrax Detection: Discussing molecular gates and biological intelligent processors research pertaining to a pore that could be designed to separate out molecules of anthrax or botulism, even at very low amounts. By detecting these toxins at an early stage and in very small amounts, the damage they cause could be minimized. This concept could be extrapolated for a variety of major diseases as well.
More information about the workshop is at http://www.cnst.uiuc.edu/NanoWorkshop2004.htm.
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