Welcome Messages

Welcome from the General Chairs

On behalf of the IEEE Nanotechnology Council (IEEE NTC) and the Conference Organizing Committee, it is our pleasure to welcome all authors, reviewers, session chairs, and participants to the 16th IEEE Nanotechnology Materials and Devices Conference (IEEE NMDC) in Vancouver, BC, Canada, in December 12 – 15, 2021. The IEEE NMDC was founded in 2005 and since that time it has developed as one of the major IEEE conferences in the rapidly growing field of Nanotechnology fundamental research and applications. The IEEE NMDC is held annually on a rotational principle in different locations in IEEE Regions 1-7 & 9 (North & South America), Region 8 (Europe & Africa) and Region 10 (Asia & Pacific), with the latest editions taking place in Anchorage, AK, USA (2015), Toulouse, France (2016), Singapore (2017), Portland, OR, USA (2018), Stockholm, Sweden (2019) and Nanjing, China (2020, virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

IEEE NMDC aims to develop critical assessment of existing work and future directions in nanotechnology research including nanomaterials and fabrications, nanoelectronics, nanophotonics, nanobio medical applications, devices, and integration. Its main purpose is to foster communication between physicists, chemists, microbiologists and engineers from academia and industry, interested in nanodevices and nanostructured materials, advanced preparation techniques, new material properties, standards and safety issues of nanotechnology, computer simulations and theoretical developments. The interdisciplinary exchange between academic scientists and contributions from industrial researchers, during the conference, stimulates gathering knowledge and helps inspiring new perspectives in applications on this exciting area.

IEEE NMDC 2021 is primarily sponsored by the IEEE Nanotechnology Council. Valued patrons of the conference are NC State University (NC, USA), University of Victoria (BC, Canada), CMC Microsystems (Canada), Biosensors and Micromachines by MDPI, as well as the conference media partners: IEEE TNANO, IEEE OJ-NANO and IEEE Nanotechnology Magazine.

The 16th IEEE NMDC 2021 has a particular flavor since for the first time one of the main IEEE NTC conferences is organized in co-location with one of the oldest IEEE conferences, namely the 96th IEEE Conference on Electrical Insulation and Dielectric phenomena (IEEE CEIDP 2021) of the IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society (IEEE DEIS). Given the challenges imposed by the pandemic of our time, COVID-19, the NMDC & CEIDP organizing committees succeeded to work in concert, in the effort to offer the conference attendees many parallel sessions, covering an enlarged panel of scientific topics and their industrial applications, organized in an excellent environment offered by the Pinnacle Harbourfront Hotel, located in the heart of Vancouver. Conference attendees that experience travel restrictions in this difficult time will be given the possibility to remotely present their contributions. Apart from the possibility of the registered participants to freely access the contributions and sessions of both conferences, they are highly encouraged to attend the NMDC & CEIDP two joint sessions and the joint workshop dedicated to topics of common interest.

The IEEE NMDC 2021 would not be successful without the commitment and contribution from many volunteers, authors, reviewers, conference participants, and partners. All are highly acknowledged for their help and support.

We wish you a productive and interesting conference and an agreeable time in Vancouver.

IEEE NMDC 2021 General Chairs

Dr. Kremena MAKASHEVA

CNRS, LAPLACE

Prof. Xiaoning JIANG

NC State University

Prof. Reuven GORDON

University of Victoria

Prof. James B. SPICER

Johns Hopkins University

 


Welcome from the Program Chair

On behalf of all my colleagues on the Technical Program Committee, it is a great honor to welcome you to the 2021 IEEE Nanotechnology Materials and Devices Conference (NMDC 2021) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This conference serves a special role among the technical meetings organized by the IEEE Nanotechnology Council (NTC) and provides an opportunity to explore new ways of connecting with the member societies of the NTC.

The program for NMDC 2021 has been developed in conjunction with the Conference on Electrical Insulation and Dielectric Phenomena (CEIDP) 2021 with colleagues in the IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society (DEIS). Working on the overall program with Prof. Thomas Andritsch (University of Southampton University, UK and my counterpart in CEIDP 2021) has been a rewarding experience on many levels. This collaboration in organization has introduced new ways for developing technical programs, and I hope you find the combination of NMDC with CEIDP exciting and effective.

While the integration of these conferences presented opportunities, the challenges of the global pandemic forced changes that none of us expected when the proposal for NMDC-CEIDP 2021 was first presented to the NTC leadership. The conference was envisioned as an event that would bridge organizational boundaries bringing different technical communities together. We have been unwavering in this goal, but the pandemic has made delivery of the technical program quite demanding.

The entire program of the conference will be available online with participants at the conference site enjoying all the amenities of an in-person experience. Since many participants will deliver their presentations onsite, there will be online participants who will need to attend during times of the day (or night) that are not conducive to rigorous technical exchanges and this aspect is unfortunate.

However, the program itself is vigorous and offers participants the opportunity to attend eight plenary lectures on topics ranging from quantum computing to nanomedicine. Complementing these presentations are those from our three, newly-inducted, NTC Fellows who will present aspects of their contributions to nanotechnology. We will also have several keynote addresses by Distinguished Lecturers of the NTC along with numerous invited presentations in the many technical areas on offer at NMDC 2021.

Many of the sessions relate directly to the standing Technical Committees of the NTC, and I want to thank all the chairs and members of these committees for their support of the paper solicitation, review and approval process. We also have a number of Special Topics sessions that are focused on areas that enjoy heightened activity and are particularly relevant to today’s technological developments. Two of the most popular are Nanomaterials for Energy Applications and Theory and Modelling of Nanomaterials and Devices with each requiring three full sessions to accommodate all the accepted papers and abstracts in these areas.

I would like to take this opportunity to express sincere gratitude to the session organizers, workshop and tutorial organizers, panel chairs, track chairs as well as all the reviewers whose critical evaluation of various contributions were incredibly valuable in preparing the best technical content possible. Preparation of this outstanding program for NMDC 2021 would not have been possible without the dedication and efforts of so many colleagues. I hope you enjoy the technical program and I look forward to meeting you physically in Vancouver or online during IEEE NMDC 2021.

 

J.B. Spicer
Johns Hopkins University
NMDC 2021 TPC Chair

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