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ECTI’s electron-beam nanolithography trainees at a lunch held in their honour on June 10, 2010.

Dozens of scientists, engineers and doctoral candidates from hospitals, industry and universities from across Canada and in Korea and the Middle East dove deep into the world of electron-beam nanolithography recently at the Emerging Communications Technology Institute (ECTI), the University of Toronto’s state-of-the art facility in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.

The students were the first to take an innovative nine-hour e-beam nanolithography training session, and will go on to apply their new skills in the fields of biomedicine, micro- and nano-electro-mechanical systems (M/NEMS), microfluidics, opto-electronics, microelectronics, energy and pharmaceuticals.

Opened last year, the research lab allows scientists and engineers to create next-generation devices that could make a large-scale impact on health care, information technology, clean technologies, digital media and the automotive industry. It is built around a $6.5-million electron beam lithography system, a tool able to define features as small as 10 nanometres: about 10,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair.

The facility is one of only two of its kind in Canada. Students in the course used the tool to create a nano-device they could take away with them. Many may be part of an exploding nanotechnology market, projected to be worth $1 trillion by 2014.

“This training opportunity demonstrates the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering’s leadership role in providing researchers with the cutting edge tools they need to do world-class work,” said Dr. Aju Jugessur, the training instructor and manager of the facility.

“Providing researchers with the tools they need to undertake leading-edge research is what the Emerging Communications Technology Institute is all about,” added Professor Stewart Aitchison, Vice-Dean, Research, at the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “Sometimes, when you want to make grand changes in the world, you have to start very, very small.”

For more information about the University of Toronto’s electron-beam nanolithography facility, please go to www.ecti.utoronto.ca, or contactstewart.aitchison@utoronto.ca or aju.jugessur@utoronto.ca

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