Richard Adams, a chemistry professor who joined USC in 1984, has been named director, effective June 15. Adams has gained international recognition for his studies of polynuclear metal complexes and their use as reaction catalysts. Recently, it has been shown that his complexes are excellent precursors to nanoparticles.

The Nanoscience Center will concentrate on nanoscience research, which involves atomic-scale materials and catalysts. About 20 USC faculty members already are involved in nano-scale research, which is expected to get a major funding boost from federal research agencies.

"We're going to concentrate initially on three thrust areas in which we already have faculty expertise," Adams said. "The first is nanoparticles, the second is nanoelectronics, and the third is carbon nanomaterials.

"Down the road, we can explore how nanotechnology can be used to solve energy problems. Nanoscience is already being used in fuel cell technology and in petroleum refining, but there is much more work to be done. We're at the frontier of science with this research; I'm convinced that the Nobel Prizes of the next 20 or 30 years will come out of research in nanoscience."

About 20,000 square feet or just under half of the space in Sumwalt College building has been designated for the Nanoscience Center. The Office of Research will commit up to $2 million for renovations and equipment for the Nanoscience Center, including $1 million in state funding.

The Board of Trustees will consider the project in a future meeting. Because nanoscience experiments are extremely sensitive to vibration, Sumwalt is being tested by vibration analysts, and the results will be submitted to an architect for possible remediation.

Scott Goode, a chemistry professor who was the faculty liaison during construction of the Graduate Science Research Center, will serve in a similar capacity during renovations to Sumwalt.

Nanoscience Center renovations are expected to take about a year to complete. While facility plans go forward, Adams hopes to have at least three senior faculty appointments made in the next 18 months; a $1 million EPSCoR grant is providing the initial funding for several junior faculty appointments in nanoscience.

"We've got a lot of work to do, but I've got a lot of support from deans [Gary] Crawley and [Ralph] White, Bill Harris, and Jerry Odom. I was excited when I came here in 1984, and I'm excited about this new project. My feeling is, let's build a Nanoscience Center!" Adams said.