Advice on Acquiring NSF Funding in Nanomechanics and Surface Engineering.

Over the past three decades, new tools and techniques have been developed to image, synthesize, and manipulate nanoscale objects. Advanced materials synthesis and manufacturing techniques provide the technology not only to make nanoscale materials but to incorporate them into functional systems. Since the surface-to-volume ratio of a given object scales as the reciprocal of its size, surface and interracial effects become dominant in these nanoscale systems. This paper will discuss U.S. National Science Foundation nanoscale funding initiatives that center on surface or interfacial effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]