Global Research Partnership Centers
2008 Winner Profiles
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York
Cornell University, located in Ithaca, New York, is the largest school in the Ivy League, with additional campuses in New York City and Doha, Qatar. Founded in 1865 and dubbed the “first American university,” it is composed of 10 privately endowed and four state-supported colleges, including seven undergraduate colleges and seven graduate and professional units. It is among the top 10 research universities in the nation, based on research expenditures.
View Cornell's presentation at the GRP Symposium
Dr. Emmanuel P. Giannelis
Dr. Emmanuel P. Giannelis, co-Principal Investigator of the KAUST-Cornell Center for Energy and Sustainability, is Director, Materials Science and Engineering, and the Walter R. Reed Professor of Engineering in the College of Engineering at Cornell University.
Dr. Giannelis has previously served on the editorial boards of Small, Polymer, Chemistry of Materials, and Macromolecules. He has co-organized numerous conferences and symposia on nanocomposites and has delivered more than 380 invited talks and seminars. In addition, Dr. Giannelis has authored and co-authored more than 165 papers and 10 patents. He is a member of the European Academy of Sciences in addition to other professional organizations. Dr. Giannelis has an undergraduate degree in chemistry from the University of Athens, Greece and a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from Michigan State University.
Dr. Lynden A. Archer
Dr. Lynden A. Archer, the co-Principal Investigator of the KAUST-Cornell Center for Energy and Sustainability, is the Marjorie L. Hart Chair in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in the College of Engineering at Cornell University.
Dr. Archer is a fellow of the American Physical Society and is the author or co-author of more than 100 scientific papers as well as a book. He received a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Southern California in 1989 and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Stanford University in 1993.
Read KAUST's Q&A with Dr. Lynden A. Archer, co-Principal Investigator
KAUST Center Award: KAUST-Cornell Center for Energy and Sustainability
Nanoparticle ionic materials (NIMS) recently discovered at Cornell offer exciting opportunities for research and education at the forefront of materials science and engineering. NIMS are a new class of nanoscale organic-inorganic hybrids composed of a charged oligomer corona attached to hard, inorganic nanoparticle cores. Because of their hybrid nature, physical properties – electrical, optical, rheological, thermal – of NIMS can be tuned over an unusually wide range by varying geometric and chemical characteristics of the inorganic core and organic corona. On one end of the spectrum are materials with high core content, which display properties similar to crystalline solids, stiff waxes, and gels. At the opposite extreme are systems that spontaneously form particle-based ionic fluids characterized by transport properties remarkably similar to simple liquids composed of molecular building blocks, but with negligible vapor pressures and high dielectric constants. Combinations of these attributes lead to unique opportunities for scientific research and technological innovation in multiple fields.
The KAUST-Cornell Center for Energy and Sustainability will provide an integrated forum focused on NIMS for fundamental and applications-oriented research, education, and technology innovation. A multidisciplinary team of researchers from Cornell and seven partner universities – Cambridge, Columbia, ETH Lausanne, Houston, Princeton, UCLA, and Yale – with complementary expertise in materials synthesis, theory, property characterization, and process engineering, will synthesize and study NIMS as tunable platforms for CO2 capture and sequestration, photovoltaics, water desalination, and oil and gas production. A multidisciplinary team of researchers from Cornell and seven partner universities – Cambridge, Columbia, ETH Lausanne, Houston, Princeton, UCLA, and Yale – with complementary expertise in materials synthesis, theory, property characterization, and process engineering, will synthesize and study NIMS as tunable platforms for CO2 capture and sequestration, photovoltaics, water desalination, and oil and gas production. In addition to its research focus, the Center will build capacity at KAUST through six programs with well-defined deliverables that will take place during appropriate phases of KAUST's development. These programs include:
- an innovative plan for incubating new KAUST faculty members and their research programs;
- supporting KAUST with research infrastructure development such as the KAUST Nanofabrication Facility (KNF);
- joint curricula and education programs development to help promote a culture of excellence at KAUST;
- a plan for sharing best practices for graduate student recruitment and enhancing the pipeline of students in science and engineering;
- assisting KAUST in developing a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship through formal courses and experiential learning and via interactions with industrial and innovation partners and
- establishing a dynamic student and visiting scholar exchange program that links the two campuses.
The research and education programs pursued in the Center will build intellectual capacity at KAUST during its formative years and will help catapult KAUST to the forefront of nanoscience research and education.