{"315791":{"#nid":"315791","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Oliver Brand assumes top post at Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOliver Brand, a professor in the Georgia Institute of Technology\u0027s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E, has been named executive director of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ien.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInstitute for Electronics and Nanotechnology\u003C\/a\u003E (IEN), one of nine \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.research.gatech.edu\/institutes\u0022\u003Einterdisciplinary research institutes\u003C\/a\u003E (IRIs) at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn his new post, Brand leads an IRI that unites a wide range of faculty, research centers and shared-user laboratories working in the complementary fields of electronics and nanotechnology. This combination of infrastructure and interdisciplinary research activity seeks to fortify Georgia Tech\u2019s expertise in microsystems, advanced semiconductors, photonics and photovoltaics, electronics design, microelectronics packaging, and systems integration, while stimulating new and emerging application areas in biomedicine, energy, and nanomaterials.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I view my most important task as that of enabling our faculty \u2013 maximizing their research involvement opportunities and prospects,\u0022 said Brand, who was awarded the executive position after a nationwide search. \u0022IEN\u0027s job is to help enhance interdisciplinary research at Georgia Tech, and at the same time promote industry-sponsored projects that offer opportunities to develop applications and products in electronics, nanotechnology and related fields, while accelerating new discoveries into the marketplace.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInterdisciplinary research institutes (IRIs) are inclusive units that help connect and support Georgia Tech\u0027s 200-plus research centers and laboratories. They extend across college, department and laboratory boundaries to help faculty and staff work with both industry and government on basic and applied research programs. IRIs provide critical research infrastructure, create and utilize novel research laboratories, interact with students, and collaborate with other research partners including corporations, universities and research institutes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEach IRI is dedicated to one of Georgia Tech\u2019s core research areas. Besides electronics and nanotechnology, Georgia Tech IRIs focus on bioengineering and bioscience; energy and sustainable infrastructure; manufacturing, trade and logistics; materials; national security; people and technology; renewable bioproducts; and robotics (see \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.research.gatech.edu\/institutes\u0022 title=\u0022www.research.gatech.edu\/institutes\u0022\u003Ewww.research.gatech.edu\/institutes\u003C\/a\u003E).\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In addition to promoting collaboration and new research, I believe IEN should be forward-looking and help define future research grand challenges,\u0022 Brand said. \u0022On the one hand, we need to react quickly and effectively to requests for research proposals coming in to us, and on the other hand, we need to be proactive by seeding concepts that can be used to generate future calls for proposals.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBrand received his Ph.D. from ETH Zurich in Switzerland in 1994. He did postdoctoral research at Georgia Tech from 1995-1997, and then returned to ETH Zurich as a lecturer and deputy director of its Physical Electronics Laboratory. He came back to Georgia Tech in 2003 as a faculty member in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, gaining tenure in 2007 and becoming a full professor in 2009.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Professor Brand is committed to seeding and growing new interdisciplinary and industry-sponsored research efforts and working closely with faculty and sponsors to define an electronics and nanotechnology roadmap for the future,\u0022 said Stephen E. Cross, Georgia Tech\u2019s executive vice president for research. \u0022In addition, he is wholeheartedly dedicated to positioning Georgia Tech as the home of the nation\u2019s leading electronics and nanotechnology thought leaders.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs IEN\u0027s executive director, Brand oversees some 60 staff members, and shared-user research facilities that include two major buildings and more than 200 micro\/nanoelectronic fabrication and characterization tools in multiple cleanrooms and laboratories (see \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ien.gatech.edu\u0022 title=\u0022www.ien.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ewww.ien.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E). The IEN and its associated research centers support the work of more than 200 faculty members from 10 academic schools, as well as the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBrand\u0027s own area of research focuses on micro-electromechanical systems, or MEMS.\u0026nbsp; MEMS is a complex field that spans a number of traditional engineering disciplines including mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and chemical engineering, along with physics and chemistry. This interdisciplinary work, he said, helps him appreciate the broad spectrum of research performed under the IEN banner.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThough directing IEN will consume much of his time, Brand said, he will continue to direct a research group and expects to teach some courses as well.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The research enabled by IEN has the potential to revolutionize medicine, help protect the environment, enhance homeland security, and provide fresh approaches in energy creation and storage,\u0022 he said. \u0022It can also improve the size, performance and effectiveness of devices and systems used in many other traditional consumer and industrial applications worldwide.\u0022\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Brett Israel (404-385-1933) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOliver Brand, a professor in the Georgia Institute of Technology\u0027s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been named executive director of the Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology (IEN), one of nine interdisciplinary research institutes (IRIs) at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Oliver Brand has been named executive director of the Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology, one of nine interdisciplinary research institutes at Georgia Tech."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2014-08-14 19:05:30","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:56","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-08-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-08-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"315761":{"id":"315761","type":"image","title":"Oliver Brand - 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