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Flexible ‘skin’ can help robots, prosthetics perform everyday tasks by sensing shear force | UW News

Engineers from the University of Washington and UCLA have developed a flexible sensor “skin” that can be stretched over any part of a robot’s body or prosthetic to accurately convey information about shear forces and vibration that are critical to successfully grasping and manipulating objects. The new stretchable electronic skin was manufactured at the UW’s Washington Nanofabrication Facility. It is made from the same silicone rubber used in swimming goggles. The rubber is embedded with tiny serpentine channels — roughly half the width of a human hair — filled with electrically conductive liquid metal that won’t crack or fatigue when the skin is stretched, as solid wires would do.

WNF and Nano-ES Institute Logo Contest

Calling all users, artists, and inspired community members! The Washington Nanofabrication Facility and the new Institute for Nano-Engineering Systems (Nano-ES) are looking for a new visual identity and need your help. We are seeking current WNF students, users, and staff who can design two creative, innovative and professional logo designs. The logos should be recognizable and help promote each facility’s mission, as follows: “UW WNF’s primary purpose is to provide an open-access facility that enables users to leverage tools and…

WNF Hosts 1st NNCI Community Appreciation Night

    On October 31st, 2016 the WNF held the first NNCI Community Appreciation event at the UW Club on Monday, October 31, 2016. The National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure is a network of open technology laboratory user facilities, supported by the NSF. In the Northwest, it is composed by the University of Washington (WNF and MAF) and Oregon State University (ATAMI and MaSC), all of which had representatives at the celebration. We were thrilled to host our users, staff and their families…

Research on Rechargeable Batteries Utilizing WNF Capabilities Is Published on Science

    A team led by Professor William Chueh (Stanford) and David Shaphiro (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) has developed a new way to understand how primary battery particles charge and discharge. Their research utilized the WNF capabilities and has been published in the August edition of Science.     They found that the discharging process (lithiation) is considerably more uniform than charging (delithiation). In addition, the researchers also discovered that faster charging improves uniformity, which can act as a catalyst…

WNF Grabs Attention at 2016 Semicon West

Associate director Dr. Michael Khbeis, staff and undergraduate research assistants attended Semicon West (July 12 – 14) and grabbed the attention of international electronics and sensor startups and manufacturers. Semicon presented a unique opportunity for the WNF to display its work and connect with key players in the microelectronic industry, including engineers, designers, researchers, executives, and more. They attended several workshops throughout the day as well as company sponsored events, such as the Unity reveal, which divulged the merger of…

UW labs win $4.5 million NSF nanotechnology infrastructure grant | UW News

The University of Washington and Oregon State University have won a $4.5 million, five-year grant from the National Science Foundation to advance nanoscale science, engineering and technology research in the Pacific Northwest and support a new network of user sites across the country. The regional partnership was selected as one of 16 sites for a new National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) program. That network is designed to give researchers from academia, small and large companies and other institutions open access to university facilities with leading-edge fabrication and characterization tools. At the UW, the funding will support the Washington Nanofabrication Facility and the Molecular Analysis Facility.

UW to invest $37 million in WNF | UW News

The WNF makes things that aren’t practical, economical or possible to fabricate at commercial foundries — inconceivably tiny parts, chips made from unconventional materials that industrial factories won’t touch, devices that probe the boundaries of our universe. To serve growing demand for nanofabrication services, the UW Board of Regents has approved spending up to $37 million to renovate the facility, which is housed in Fluke Hall. The overhaul, scheduled to begin in November, will upgrade basic building systems and roughly double the amount of highly-specialized fabrication space that academics and entrepreneurs increasingly rely on to build innovative devices.