A "Transforming Energy" Lecture by Robert Hwang
April 20, 2009

Abstract

The access to affordable and abundant energy lies at the heart of our economy and our quality of life. The world's appetite for energy is expected to double to more than 28 terawatts by the year 2050. Compounding this challenge is the clear need to protect our environment by increasing energy efficiency and developing carbon-neutral energy sources. Nanoscience and nanotechnology present exciting and important approaches to addressing our global energy challenges. At the root of the opportunities provided by nanoscience to enhance our energy security is the fact that all of the elementary steps of energy conversion (e.g. charge transfer, chemical reactions, molecular rearrangements, etc.) take place at the nanoscale. Thus an understanding of these phenomena and the ability to control processes at this scale will be vital to achieve the breakthroughs that we need. While tremendous progress has been made in the last few years, research and development must be strongly linked to strategic targets for maximal impact. Sandia National Laboratories is a leader in nanoscience and couples fundamental research to real engineering solutions. In particular, the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies is a DOE-supported user facility with the expressed mission to accelerate the development in nanoscience and nanotechnology. In this talk, I will describe the work at Sandia National Laboratories in the areas of nanoscience for energy applications and highlight technology areas where the need for focused R&D activities are critically needed.

Biography

Bob Hwang received his undergraduate degree from UCLA in physics and his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland. He then went on to a postdoc position at the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. Bob was then awarded an Alexander von Humboldt award and spent one year at the University of Munich. In 1991, he took a position at Sandia National Labs in Livermore, Calif., where he conducted research in the area of surface physics. In 2003, he moved to Brookhaven National Lab as director of the Center for Functional Nanomaterials where he stayed until 2006. Hwang is presently at Sandia National Labs in New Mexico where he serves as the director of the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, which is a DOE-supported Nanoscale Science Research Center.