Nanotech collaboration receives nearly $1M in funding

Waterloo, ON – Major new research in nanotechnology, a joint initiative between the University of Waterloo and Soochow University in China, has received close to $1 million in funding.

The SUN-WIN Joint Institute of Nanotechnology is a partnership between the two universities. A fund from Suzhou Industrial Park and Soochow University provided ¥6 million (approximately $1 million) in total financing for 12 collaborative projects, each with lead investigators from the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) and Soochow University Nanotechnology (SUN).

“The University of Waterloo and Soochow University are delighted to be partners in such cutting edge research,” said Feridun Hamdullahpur, president and vice-chancellor of Waterloo and Xuilin Zhu, president of Soochow University. “The fact that so many joint projects received critical funding confirms the strength of the collaboration and the significance of the research.”

Waterloo and Soochow signed a partnership agreement in nanotechnology in February. It provides for long-term co-operation in research, education and commercialization between the two universities.

“This funding is a big step forward for collaborations between WIN and SUN,” said Arthur Carty, one of the co-directors of the joint institute, and executive director of WIN. “It will serve to stimulate and foster exchanges of students and faculty between the two universities, lead to exciting new discoveries in nanotechnology, and ultimately to technological innovations which can be commercialized.”

The funded projects are in key theme areas of nanotechnology such as high-efficiency organic LEDs, thin nanocomposites as materials for lithium-ion batteries, and new nanostructured polymers for biomedical and chemical uses.

WIN is an interdisciplinary research institute at Waterloo, with research in many areas of nanoscience and nanoengineering.