Intelligence
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
TABLE OF CONTENTS Highlights of the Year Jiri Jonas, Director pages 2–6 Molecular and Electronic Nanostructures Overview: pages 7–9 Karl Hess and Jeffrey S. Moore, Co-Chairs Highlights: pages 10–16 Biological Intelligence Overview: pages 17–19 Marie Banich and William T.Greenough, Co-Chairs Highlights: pages 20–26 Human-Computer Intelligent Interaction Overview: pages 27–29 Thomas Huang and Arthur Kramer, Co-Chairs Highlights: pages 30–36 Beckman Visualization Facility Bridgette Carragher and Clint Potter, Co-Directors Overview and Highlights: pages 37–40 Institute Infrastructure Jennifer Quirk,Associate Director for External Affairs and Research pages 41–44 Facts and Figures Beckman Institute Funding page 47 Faculty by Beckman Institute Group, Major Awards, Patents and Patent Applications, Grants Awarded, and Selected Publications: M&ENS MRT pages 99-99 BI MRT pages 99-99 HCII MRT pages 99-99 Beckman Institute Fellows pages 99-99 Contact Information, University Administration, Credits, and Photo Information pages 99-99 Contents of the YEAR Highlights 9898 2 Molecular & Electronic Nanostructures Biological Intelligence HUMAN- COMPUTER INTELLIGENT INTERACTION During 1998, the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign made great strides towards its goal of becoming a premier multi- disciplinary research institute. HIGHLIGHTS 3 The Beckman Institute’s External Advisory Committee the committee stated that: visited us in May 1998 and reported their findings to the “The progress and focus of the Institute make University’s higher administration and to the faculty of the the Beckman Institute the most outstanding Institute. The committee is composed of distinguished multidisciplinary organization in the United scientists and researchers who are experts in multidis- States and, perhaps, the world.” ciplinary research activities. In their report, 4 Among our many activities and projects,I shall high- —“Physical and Electrical Properties of Hot Carrier light only a few to illustrate how productive the past Degradation of Si MOS Transistors Processed in year was. Deuterium and Hydrogen,”proposed by Zhi Chen, Thanks to the continuing support of the Arnold and who is working with the Scanning Tunneling Mabel Beckman Foundation,we welcomed two new Microscopy and Computational Electronics Beckman Fellows,Michal Balberg and Gregory groups. J. DiGirolamo. Dr.Balberg completed her Ph.D. —”Electronic Properties and Spin Effects in Artifi- degree at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in June cial Molecules,”by Satyadev Nagaraja in colla- 1998. Her research interests center around non- boration with the Computational Electronics linear optics, artificial neural networks, and visual and Photonic Systems groups. perception. As a Beckman Fellow,she is using the —“Numerical Simulation of Biomolecular Diffusion,” methodology of information theory to investigate by Gang Zou, working with the Theoretical Bio- the performance of the visual system and an “artifi- physics and Molecular Biophysics groups. cial”multi-spectral imaging system. She has started These titles illustrate the multidisciplinary scope working with several groups at the Institute, inclu- of projects that graduate students are working on ding Photonic Systems,Image Formation and in the Institute. Processing, and Artificial Intelligence. This past year,we purchased the environmental Gregory DiGirolamo completed his Ph.D.degree scanning electron microscope located in the Micro- at the University of Oregon in June 1998. His scopy Suite of the Imaging Technology Group, and research interests focus on the cognitive neuroscience equipment for the Integration Support Laboratory. of attention and memory.As a Beckman Fellow, These two major acquisitions, discussed elsewhere he is using fMRI,ERP,and eye tracking to help eluci- in this report,were made possible by fund matching date the cognitive and neural mechanisms of the from the Beckman Foundation. interaction between attention and memory.He Among the new research projects,several deserve works closely with members of the Cognitive special mention. As part of the National Science Science,Cognitive Neuroscience, and Human Foundation’s Knowledge and Distributed Intelligence Perception and Performance groups. program,two grants were awarded to multidiscipli- The yearly competition for research assistantships nary research teams led by professors Gary Dell is another important activity supported by the and Eric Jakobsson. Even though the Beckman Beckman Foundation.The projects for 1998 were Institute has only recently begun microelectromecha- the following: nical systems (MEMS) research,it is gratifying to note —“Electrode Modification for Improved Cell-Elec- that a group led by Professor David Beebe already trode Coupling,”which is being pursued by John received a large multidisciplinary grant from DARPA. Chang working with the Neuronal Pattern In addition, Professor David Brady received a Analysis,Biological Sensors, and Advanced large multidisciplinary grant from DARPA in the Chemical Systems groups. area of interferometric digital imaging. 5 The Computational Electronics Group faculty should be regulated by a rigorous review of received a center award from the NSF for a Distri- all research activities.The main criterion for evalua- buted Center for Advanced Electronics Simulations ting a project or program will always be its excel- (DesCArtES), which is shared with research groups lence. In view of our multidisciplinary mission, from Arizona State,Purdue,and Stanford universities however,the Institute must insist that the work of and is co-directed by professors Karl Hess and individual faculty members or disciplinary groups Robert Dutton (Stanford). And,in April 1998,a new must also meet the multidisciplinary criterion. By Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative using an external review team of experts, we get an (MURI) grant,entitled “Nanoelectronics:Low Power, objective view of the quality of the multidisciplinary High Performance Components, and Circuits,”was projects. In 1998, we finished the first three-year awarded by the Office of Naval Research to Beck- review cycle by reviewing the Biological Intelligence man researchers and their collaborators. Main Research Theme. A critical issue now being addressed is related to For a large multidisciplinary institute, benchmar- the dynamic nature of the multidisciplinary research king, critiques, and advice are even more important center. In order to take advantage of new research than for individual research projects. The Beckman opportunities,the Beckman Institute must have the Institute’s External Advisory Committee serves this space and resources for new faculty members. need.The committee is composed of distinguished Consequently,faculty appointments in the Institute scientists and engineers who are experts in multi- should not be indefinite.Rather,a flow in and out of disciplinary research activities.This advisory com- mittee visited us in May 1998 and reported their findings to the University’s higher administration and to the faculty of the Institute. In their report, the committee stated that:“The progress and the focus of the Institute make the Beckman Institute the most outstanding multidisciplinary research organization in the United States and, perhaps, the world.” On behalf of the Beckman Institute, I would like to thank the faculty,students, and staff for their dedicated and highly successful work in 1998. —Jiri Jonas, Director 6 MOLECULAR & ELECTRONIC NANOSTRUCTURES M&ENSM&ENS OVERVIEW The Molecular and Electronic Nanostructures (M&ENS) Main Research Theme (MRT) is focused on the development of materials and methods to under- stand and control structure and function at M&ENS the nanometer scale and beyond. 8 A major objective is to provide the underlying science and technology that will support the development of nanoscale integrated circuits (NICs).Several multidisciplinary research programs are underway and made important progress in 1998, while new ones in computational elec- tronics and nanoelectronics were initiated.These externally funded programs support efforts among the Advanced Chemical Systems, Scanning Tunneling Microscopy,and Computational Electronics groups at the Beckman Institute. Research continues in an attempt to merge molecular components with electronically relevant surfaces.The atomic precision of function group chemistry is ideally matched to the exquisite control of STM nanolithography,thereby yielding the highest resolution possible.We are con- vinced that this powerful combination will enable site-specific placement of single molecules, opening the way to new molecular-based phenomena for NIC design. An emerging mission is the development of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)—an effort that involves close ties to the Biological Intelligence Main Research Theme.Improve- ments in device fabrication and design are being made through advances in new materials and simulation methods. The M&ENS laboratories have maintained their lead in the development of advanced charac- terization methods. Coupled with sophisticated computational approaches, a wide scope of questions has been probed,ranging from self-assembling systems to atomistic dynamics on silicon surfaces.As was recently demonstrated by the discovery of deuterium incorporation for impro- ving chip lifetime,the insight gained from the research performed here at the Beckman Institute will lead the way to new technology with