Sandia National Labs Academic Alliance Collaboration Report 2020-2021

DEVELOPING NANOSCIENCE IN THE LAB AND TAKING IT TO THE MARKETPLACE

CONTRIBUTOR SPOTLGHT

Matt Weldon

UT Austin’s Matthew Weldon learned the semiconductor industry as an employee for

NASCENT (Nanomanufacturing Systems for Mobile Computing and Energy Technologies), a NSF Nanosystems Engineering Research Center, is headquartered in Austin. NASCENT, led by UT Austin, develops high-throughput, high-yield and versatile nanomanufacturing systems to take nano-science discoveries from the lab to the marketplace, and is composed of faculty and graduate researchers from partner universities (UNM, UC Berkeley and University of Houston), industrial partners, and associated research institutions. Throughout the year, NASCENT offers a variety of workshops, seminars, and full courses to help educate future research and technology leaders with technical depth, broad understanding of real market demands, skills for innovation, and the creativity needed to bring the benefits of nanomanufacturing in computing, electronics, energy, healthcare, and sensing. In the NSF Innovation Corps Experience, NASCENT researchers, Juan Faria-Briceno and Steve Brueck, UNM professor, and their business mentor, Palladian Chief Technical Officer Scot Moye, recently participated in a Corps Experience designed to help scientific researchers become entrepreneurs. Briceno and Brueck’s project centered on commercialization of the In-Line Scatterometry technology, which is targeted for application in nanoscale-featured web manufacturing. The team and their project received with the Cohort Award for highest level of achievement.

manufacturers of semiconductor process equipment and metrology tools, plus he enjoys technology startups, which makes him the perfect NASCENT Assistant Director and Industrial Program Coordinator. He currently works at the UT Austin Pickle Research Campus and is focused on nanomanufacturing systems development.

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Sandia Academic Alliance Program