RESEARCH
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The worldwide nanotechnology revolution is underway and Ireland is at the forefront of it thanks to initiatives such as the Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices. Claire O’Connor spoke to director PROF JOHN BOLAND and executive director DR DIARMUID O’BRIEN
WHENIT COMES TO PRODUCTS, SIZEMATTERS. AND THEIMPACTOFNANOTECHNOLOGY–WHICHMANIP- ULATESMATERIALSONATINYLEVELWHERETHEIR PROPERTIESCHANGE– ISPOTENTIALLYHUGE. Already many itemswe take for granted, like electronics, cloth- ing, sports equipment, cosmetics and even paints are becoming faster, tougher and lighter thanks to nanotechnology,whichma- nipulates materials at dimensions of less than 100 nanometres, getting down to the levels of molecules and atoms. And the applications of nano are now burgeoning into areas
such as medicine and energy storage too. Ireland is one of themost successful places for the research to
enable the nano revolution, earning rankings of sixth in world for nanoscience (Nature Nanotechnology November 2006) and eighth formaterial science between 2000 and 2010, according to the Essential Science Indicators database ofThomsonReuters. A key driver of those metrics is the Centre for Research on
Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices (CRANN), which was founded in 2003 as a dedicated Centre for Science Engi- neering and Technology (CSET) with State funding through Science Foundation Ireland (SFI). A collaboration between Trinity College Dublin and Univer-
sity College Cork (UCC), today CRANN boasts a suite of ad- vanced facilities and internationally renowned scientists, many of them in the purpose-built glass-clad Naughton Institute at Trinity. The scope of research by those principal investigators or ‘PIs’
at CRANNextends far: fromdesigning better materials for en- ergy storage to figuring out how to imprint tiny patterns in
devices, developing systems to diagnose and treat tumours more precisely and detecting miniscule levels of contamination in samples to catch problems early. But the centre has never been content to rest on the laurels of
its scientific output – it is proactive about engaging with indus- try at all levels, listening to the problems they face and offering solutions based on their expertise and facilities, aswell as mov- ing its own inventions to the marketplace. “We have world-class PIs that link to our infrastructure, and
that combination is exceptionally powerful,” says CRANN’s di- rector Prof JohnBoland. “Andwhat I think is quite unique about CRANNis thatwe have taken that nowand leveraged it to build links with industry.”
IRELAND’S ADVANTAGE The industry presence in Ireland is already there, and CRANN seeks to deepen and consolidate it. “Ireland is in an incredibly advantaged position –we have had
20 to 30 years of inward investment enabled by the IDA, and that has given us a large number of potential partnerswhowere traditionally working in advanced manufacturing,” says Prof Boland. “AtCRANNwe have been able to engagewith a number of these multinational companies and encourage them to look beyond the manufacturing remit, to see how they can compete internally in their own organisations for a slice of the corporate R&D budget.” CRANN excels at understanding how to get the best out of
materials, tweaking and measuring themto eke out better per- formances, explains Prof Boland. He cites in particular the
Issue 3 Autumn/Winter 2011 INNOVATION IRELAND REVIEW 29
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