Plenary speaker:

James M. Tour, Ph.D.
Chao Professor of Chemistry
Professor of Computer Science
Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
Rice University

Nanotechnology: The Passive, Hybrid and Active Sides 

In Dr. Tour’s view, there are three areas of nanotechnology: passive, hybrid and active.  The passive side is already upon us and actively being applied in materials applications.  Hybrid systems are poised to play a greater role in devices where nanosized elements complement a known platform.  Truly active nanotechnological systems, such as nanometer-sized switches and machines, are presently being investigated in the laboratory, but their utility is further away. 

In this Research Day presentation, Dr. Tour will provide examples of each category with the following applications:

Passive: Carbon nanotubes for high performance materials and microwave absorbing coatings.

Hybrids: Molecules working in concert with silicon for “silicon with afterburners.”

Active: Nanocars.

About the speaker:
James M. Tour, a synthetic organic chemist, received his Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Syracuse University, his Ph.D. in synthetic organic and organometallic chemistry from Purdue University, and postdoctoral training in synthetic organic chemistry at the University of Wisconsin and Stanford University. After spending 11 years on the faculty of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of South Carolina, he joined the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology at Rice University in 1999 where he is presently the Chao Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Computer Science, and Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science. He is also Director of Rice University’s Carbon Nanotechnology Laboratory in the Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology. Tour’s scientific research areas include molecular electronics, nanotubes for health applications, chemical self-assembly, conjugated oligomers, electroactive polymers, combinatorial routes to precise oligomers, polymeric sensors, flame retarding polymer additives, carbon nanotube growth, synthetic modifications and composite formation, hydrogen storage on carbon nanotubes, synthesis of molecular motors and nanocars, use of the NanoKids concept for K-12 education in nanoscale science, and methods for retarding chemical terrorist attacks. Tour has over 300 research publications and over 30 patents.

Tour won the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society for his achievements in organic chemistry. He also won the Small Times magazine’s Innovator of the Year Award in 2006, the Nanotech Briefs Nano 50 Innovator Award in 2006, the Alan Berman Research Publication Award, Department of the Navy in 2006, the Southern Chemist of the Year Award from the American Chemical Society in 2005 and The Honda Innovation Award for Nanocars in 2005. Tour’s paper on Nanocars was the most highly accessed journal article of all American Chemical Society articles in 2005, and it was listed by LiveScience as the second most influential paper in all of science in 2005. Tour has won several other national awards including the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award in Polymer Chemistry and the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award in Polymer Chemistry.

Tour is a co-founder of NanoComposites, Inc. which specializes in nanotube-based composites and he is a co-founder of Tools for Industry, Inc., makers of corrosion inhibitor coatings. He also is the founder and principal of NanoJtech Consultants, LLC, performing technology assessments for the prospective investor. He serves on the Board of Directors of Ariel Ministries. He has served as a visiting scholar at Harvard University, on the Chemical Reviews Editorial Advisory Board, the Governor’s Mathematics and Science Advisory Board for South Carolina, the Defense Science Study Group through the Institute for Defense Analyses, the Defense Science Board Chem/Nano Study Section, and the MD Anderson Cancer Research Center’s Competitive Grant Renewal Board. He has been active in consulting on several national defense-related topics, in addition to numerous other professional committees and panels.