National Science Foundation Launches Microelectronics Program

The National Science Foundation has begun a $10 million program, XYZ on a Chip, to encourage researchers to explore nonelectronic applications for recent advances in microelectronics.
With components shrinking in size, microelectronic systems are on scales found in chemistry and biology. Examples of these increasingly complex systems include structural sensors on bridges and biosensors that control the release of medicines throughout the body.
The foundation is seeking proposals that involve nonelectrical processes and properties on a micro- and nanoscale; techniques for rapid prototyping of novel chips; and physical representations and design methodologies for nonelectrical processes and microsystems. It plans to award 20 to 25 grants of $100,000 to $300,000 for winning proposals. More information is available at www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm?nsf9931.