Phillip Messersmith To Bring Nanotechnology To Public Feb. 18

Phillip B. Messersmith, a biomedical engineer at Northwestern University who takes inspiration from nature to develop new materials, will be the featured speaker at the University’s nanotechnology town hall meeting Monday, Feb. 18.

Messersmith, the Erastus O. Haven Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, will discuss “Biomimetic Nanotechnology: Useful Materials Inspired by Mussels, Geckos, Tea, Wine and Chocolate.”

The event will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the ITW Classroom of the Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center, 2133 Sheridan Road, on the Evanston campus.

For the first time, the town hall meeting will be streamed live on the Web.

The event, hosted by Northwestern’s International Institute for Nanotechnology, is free and open to the public. It offers an opportunity to learn about the fundamentals of nanotechnology and to explore the larger questions about the smallest technology. An open forum and reception will follow Messersmith’s talk.

Although free, the public outreach event requires advance registration for those attending in person. To register and for information on the webcast, go to www.iinano.org.

Established in 2000, the International Institute for Nanotechnology headquartered at Northwestern is a global hub of excellence in the field and currently represents and unites more than $600 million in nanotechnology research, educational programs and supporting infrastructure.