Craighead, the C.W. Lake Jr. Professor of Engineering and professor of applied and engineering physics at Cornell, received the award through the New York State OfÞce of Science, Technology and Academic Research's (NYSTAR) Faculty Development Program. The funds are designed to assist universities in the recruitment and retention of leading research faculty in science and technology Þelds with strong commercial potential.
The award was part of more than $6.36 million in funding to researchers at nine universities in New York state, made on the basis of peer-reviewed competitive science and the likelihood of commercial exploitation of the research. Scientists supported by the funds are expected to develop, define and conduct nationally and internationally recognized research, act as a focal point for multidisciplinary research, attract additional external funding from federal, foundation and other sources and participate in entrepreneurial enterprises that will beneÞt New York state.
Craighead's research under the NYSTAR grant will concentrate on nanotechnology for chip-based chemical and biochemical analysis systems. His research group has been involved in developing highly selective biological sensors for the detection of small quantities of biological microorganisms or biochemicals.
A new class of planned devices will use microßuidic systems incorporating engineered nanostructures for high-speed analysis of chemical mixtures. The microßuidic approaches use methods similar to those that have been used to create electronic integrated circuits. Ultimately these devices could be used for rapid medical diagnosis or environmental monitoring.