NNCI Archives - NanoES

Pozzo group wins first-place for innovative battery electrodes at National NanoTechnology Challenge

Three people holding an oversized novelty check.

April 7, 2026

A team from University of Washington Chemical Engineering Professor Lilo Pozzo’s research group took first place in the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) NanoTechnology Entrepreneurship Challenge (NTEC), held during the Future Innovations session on March 11 at TechConnect in Raleigh, North Carolina.

NTEC provides experiential entrepreneurship education for teams led by undergraduates, graduate students and post-doctoral scholars. NTEC teams learn about the importance of customer discovery and how to leverage NNCI resources to develop a nanotechnology-enabled minimum viable product (MVP). The seven-week, virtual “at-your-pace” program culminates in a “pitch” event where teams share their progress with business leaders.

Led by CoMotion Postdoctoral Entrepreneurship Fellow Kevin Lee and PhD student Zach Wylie, the winning project from the Pozzo Research Group involves the development of next generation high-power-density battery electrodes for power-hungry applications that traditionally relied on diesel. The group will use the $2,500 award from NNCI to continue development and validation of their technology based on the group’s proprietary nanoparticles.

“Through customer-discovery work conducted with NNCI’s NTEC program, we’ve gained a clear understanding of the pain points faced by legacy battery manufacturers,” said Lee and Wylie.

Looking ahead, Lee and Wylie “plan on using NNCI’s facilities such as the Molecular Analysis Facility (MAF) and Washington Nanofabrication Facility (WNF) to characterize our material under industry-relevant conditions and generate data that manufacturers require to evaluate and ultimately adopt our material.”

UW nanoengineers win first prize at national NanoTechnology Entrepreneurship Challenge

On June 10, 2025, Anmol Purohit, Dr. Ji Feng, and Almond Lau won first prize at the NNCI NTEC Showcase for their project, “Synthesis of metal-organic framework particles for removal of short and ultra-short chain PFAS from water”.

Plenty of Beauty at the Bottom: UW engineers create 2025’s Most Stunning microscope image

Santhosh Sridhar, Ankush Nandi, and Shaunak Deshpande won first prize for “Foam in Bloom” in the “Most Stunning” category in the 2025 Plenty of Beauty at the Bottom image contest hosted by the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI).

2023 Plenty of Beauty at the Bottom

Every year in honor of National Nanotechnology Day on October 9th, the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) hosts a Plenty of Beauty at the Bottom image contest to celebrate the beauty of the micro and nanoscale. Check out this year’s winners and featured images.

Northwest Nanotechnology Infrastructure announces new seed grants

To support the use of nanotechnology tools to develop innovative, new technologies, the Northwest Nanotechnology Infrastructure (NNI) is offering seed grants to new, first-time users for work to be conducted in our fabrication or characterization facilities. These grants are designed to help users build and characterize prototypes, obtain preliminary results and conduct proof of concept studies.

NNI is one of 16 sites in the National Science Foundation’s National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) program. As the Pacific Northwest node in NSF’s NNCI network, NNI includes world-class facilities at the University of Washington including the Washington Nanofabrication Facility and the Molecular Analysis Facility.

The deadline to apply is March 1, 2022.

Additional details regarding eligibility, guidelines, and selection, as well as the link to apply, can be found here.

Celebrating national nanotechnology day: A conversation with Dan Ratner

It’s National Nanotechnology Day! Celebrate by listening to our very own Dan Ratner, UW Professor of Bioengineering, on this week’s podcast from the National Nanotechnology Initiative as he talks about his passion for sharing the awesome power of nanotechnology with the next generation of scientists and engaged citizens.

NNCI image contest celebrates beauty at the nanoscale

In honor of National Nanotechnology Day on October 9th, the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) is hosting the Plenty of Beauty at the Bottom image contest. Referencing Richard Feynman’s 1959 lecture, “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom,” this image contest celebrates the beauty of the micro and nanoscale.

Molecular Analysis Facility to host biomedical characterization workshop July 29-31

Workshop attendees will learn the nuts and bolts of surface characterization including commonly used methods and data analysis techniques. Lectures are accompanied by demonstrations on MAF instruments to provide attendees with a better understanding of the materials covered in workshop lectures.

UW Hiring Washington Nanofabrication Facility Director

The University of Washington currently has an opening for the director of the Washington Nanofabrication Facility, a world-class facility in the NSF-supported National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure network. The WNF director will oversee all aspects of cleanroom operation and supervise a staff of more than 10 technical and administrative members.

What is the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure?

NanoES is one of 16 primary sites in the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI). Learn more about what NNCI is and their goals for nanotechnology in this promotional video.