The IIT Office of Research and Sigma Xi will host the Spring 2018 Sigma Xi Lecture on Wednesday, March 28 from 3:30–4:45 p.m. in Hermann Hall Auditorium. Gajendra Shekhawat, research professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University, will discuss “Emerging Challenges and Opportunities in Nanoengineered Materials, Nanobiotechnology and Site-Specific Therapeutics for Drug Delivery.”

Today’s perception that manufacturing costs and percent product variability will increase exponentially with scaling and functional diversification is pervasive. Extensible fabrication options are needed that enable sustainable and robust micro- and nano-manufacturing technologies, affordable manufacturing cost curves, and enhanced system value. An optimal manufacturing strategy will reflect the convergence between application and design-specific requirements and a synergistic set of material and assembly options. This talk will consider emerging research material and extensible nano-fabrication challenges and opportunities in areas such as nanoelectronics, bioelectronics,  sensors, hyper interconnect nanotechnologies for giga scale interconnects, implantable Intracranial monitoring system, instrumentation, nano-drug delivery vehicles, site-specific therapeutics, and nanopatterning technologies. It will also provide general overview of cutting-edge technologies at Northwestern.

Shekhawat is a research professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University, steering committee member at the International Institute for nanotechnology, and chief scientific officer at Nanosonix Technology. He holds Ph.D. from Birla Institute of Technology and Science-India.His research and teaching focus on advanced materials and their role in technologies for energy storage and generation, medical devices, “smart” structures, therapeutics, nanopatterning, and micro/nano electronics. He is a recipient of the National Science foundation CAREER Award, Veeco Energy Innovation Award, and the Alfred Sloan and Packard Fellowship Awards. He has published roughly 120 scholarly articles and a textbook on scanning near field ultrasound holography, and holds 12 issued patents. Shekhawat is scientific consultant for numerous Bay Area companies.