ACS New York Section

Nanoscience Topical Discussion Group

2008 Annual Report


   Since its inception in March 2003, The New York Nanoscience Discussion Group has been enjoying a steady gain in popularity. The NYNDG meets four times per year, twice in the fall semester and twice in the spring semester.  The meetings take place at New York University on Tuesday evenings, beginning at 7:00pm with greetings and refreshments, followed by science at 7:30pm.  The science consists of three speakers, representing different areas of nanotechnology within different disciplines.  Speakers have hailed from universities such as Columbia, Yale, NYU and the California Institute of Technology, as well as from research institutions and industry.  Departments represented have included, chemistry, physics, biomaterials and biomimetics, radiology and pathology, and chemical engineering, to name a few.  Each speaker presents for 25 minutes and entertains questions for 5 minutes.  The atmosphere is informal and collegial.

   In preparation, the schedule of meetings is set, a series of diverse stimulating panels is decided upon, invitations are extended to the speakers, and the event is promoted to an ever-growing list of 100 scientists in the tri-state area, as well as the 150 members of the NYU Department of Chemistry.  Each evening is hosted by a member of the committee and guests are encouraged to arrive early to exchange ideas while enjoying a glass of wine and a snack before settling down to business. We have received excellent feedback from all quarters and are very pleased at the results of our efforts.

Attendance at each meeting is approximately 40. 


February 5, 2008

David B. Roth
New York University Medical Center
"Appreciating Nonhomologous End Joining Reactions at the Single DNA Molecule Level

Myriam P. Sarachik
City College of New York
"A Metal-Insulator in Two Dimensions"

George John
City College of New York
"Self-Assembled Soft Materials, and the In Situ Synthesis of Nanoparticles"


April 1, 2008

Nadrian C. Seeman
New York University
"DNA Nanomachines"

Rastislav Levicky
Polytechnic University
"DNA Monolayers: Hybridization in a Crowd"

Stavroula Sofou
Polytechnic Univeresity
"Heterogeneous Lipid Membranes Controlled by pH: Applications in LiposomeBased Drug Delivery"


September 23, 2008

Ralf Warmuth
Rutgers University
"Dynamic Covalent Synthesis of Nanocapsules"

Ruben L. Gonzalez, Jr.
Columbia University
"Coupling of tRNA and Ribosome Dynamics During Translation Elongation"

Dmitry A. Garanin
Lehman College of the City University of New York
"Quantum Dynamic of Domain Walls in Molecular Magnets"


November 18, 2008

Mark. M. Green
Polytechnic Institute of New York University
"Unfinished Business in Cooperative Chirality"

Michael D. Ward
New York University
"Crystallization in Nanospaces"

Carlos Meriles
City College of the City University of New York
"Nanoscale Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Challenges and Opportunities"



The officers of the New York Nanoscience Discussion Group for 2008 and 2009 are as follows:

Jim Canary
New York University
Department of Chemistry
31 Washington Place, room 1001
New York, NY 10003
james.canary@nyu.edu
tel: 212-998-8422
fax: 212-260-7905

Ned Seeman
New York University
Department of Chemistry
31 Washington Place, room 1001
New York, NY 10003
ned.seeman@nyu.edu
tel: 212-998-8395
fax: 212-260-7905

Andy Kent
New York University
Department of Physics
4 Washington Place, room 901
New York, NY 10003
andy.kent@nyu.edu
tel: 212-998-7773
fax: 212-995-4016

Mike Ward
New York University
Department of Chemistry
Molecular Design Institute
31 Washington Place, room 1001
New York, NY 10003
mdw3@nyu.edu
Tel: 212-998-8439
Fax: 212-260-7905

Marcus Weck
New York University
Department of Chemistry
Molecular Design Institute
31 Washington Place, room 1001
New York, NY 10003
marcus.weck@nyu.edu
Tel: 212-992-7968
Fax: 212-260-7905