Meyyappan came to the United States in 1979 to do a chemical engineering Ph.D. at Clarkson University in upstate New York. He was coming, like many others, “for the opportunities.” But that meant that after his graduate research in micro gravity materials processing, which didn’t have any commercial application at the time, he had to go out and “get a real job to make money.” His graduate research had actually been funded by NASA, but because he was a foreign national, there was no question of working for the agency, which had just launched the space shuttle.

So Meyyappan joined a semiconductor firm — Scientific Research Associates — in Glastonbury, Conn. He learned about the chip industry — not only the physics of silicon, which was in his background, but also processing. “It was like getting another Ph.D. in electrical engineering,” he says.

He rose rapidly in the company, eventually becoming director of R&D and living the classic experience of the successful immigrant Indian engineer. Then, in early 1996, he got a call from the NASA Ames Research Center in the center of Silicon Valley. The accidental discovery of carbon nanotubes at NEC in 1991 and the commercialization of the scanning tunneling microscope (which allows humans to view things on the atomic level), caused the scientific community to suddenly become more interested in nanotechnology. Although the concept of nanotech (technology executed on a scale between one and 100 nanometers) was not fashionable as a possible “next big technology trend” the way it is today, NASA was keen to get started on research. And it wanted Meyyappan, with his diverse background, to lead the initiative.

He found himself at NASA’s Moffett Field facility, an imposing collection of towering aircraft hangars, domes, metallic spheres and the world’s largest wind tunnel. Nanotech has become a major thrust of research at NASA Ames.

It was discovered that carbon nanotubes are either metallic, or they are semiconductors. “It suddenly dawned on people that you can make junctions,” Meyyappan explains. “You don’t have to try so hard because it automatically comes in nano size.” In other words, there may eventually be nano-sized microchips that function on the atomic level.

As traditional silicon semiconductors become smaller and smaller, the cost of making them increases. At the current rate, the cost of a new semiconductor fab will be more than $10 billion in a decade. Meanwhile, chip prices have come down, and Meyyappan argues that the only way to support the investment will be to develop unseen, unheard-of markets.

Even as more ubiquitous computing becomes a reality, silicon could run out of steam. “I would hate to write the obituary for silicon,” says Meyyappan, “A lot of people have done it and looked stupid. But at some point in time the economic reality will hit, and economic reality is a lot less forgiving than physics and chemistry.”

As of yet, a nano-sized chip is not exactly around the corner. Meyyappan and others in the scientific community have done little more than prove some of the principles that could make such chips a reality.

But it’s a new frontier in science, with hundreds of possible avenues to explore. Carbon nanotubes — essentially tiny tubules made up of carbon atoms strung together — have been a focus of research. But other kinds of nano materials are also getting attention. Lucent, for example, has developed an organic molecule that appears to function like a microchip.

Meyyappan’s team is working with a protein that a NASA scientist discovered in the hot springs in Yellowstone National Park, which is naturally more robust than almost any other protein in existence. It forms what Meyyappan has dubbed “protein nanotubes,” which he hopes to use to make sensors, or as a template to self-assemble nano devices.

This sense of limitless possibilities inspires Meyyappan. “Let’s say you’re a computer company working on a chip. There’s not a whole lot of research, there’s basically development,” he says. “You already made a .18 micron chip and now you want to make it .13 micron. After a while it becomes mundane, and also the pressure is tremendous. But this, this is a completely different ballgame.” His eyes light up. “This is an unknown frontier rather than mucking around with a variable on something that’s been going on for 20 years. That’s what most valley companies are. Some of the things we’re talking about in nanotech we know for sure will be next wave.”

Despite the futuristic nature of Meyyappan’s research, he is already working on some real-world applications. One of them is far removed from the dream of a nanotech microchip: His team is working with the National Cancer Institute to create a biosensor that rapidly detects cancer cells. It will consist of a collection of carbon nanotubes with molecules bonded to their tips. These “probe molecules” will be able to interact with Cancer DNA and send back an electrical signal through the carbon nanotube. The final product will be a catheter needle that can be inserted into suspicious soft tissue for fast detection, revolutionizing the way cancer is diagnosed.

But why is NASA really interested in nanotech? The main idea, for an organization centered on developing systems that have to be launched into space, is increased functionality per unit weight. In other words, systems like the Mars Pathfinder (a small robot that took breathtaking photos of the Martian surface) need to be able to do much more within the same package. So nano-level chips and materials become very attractive.

The project has already spun off a company called Integrated Nano Systems, which has used nanotubes to create an electron microscope for the semiconductor industry. With it, people can see the grain size of thin layers of material used in the chip-making process — at the one-nanometer level. The project recently picked up venture funding and is being incubated at NASA. But Meyyappan is skeptical of the hype surrounding the nanotech sector and doubts that it’s really ready for a lot of VC money.

Meyyappan represents many cutting-edge scientists working on projects that could change the way we live, far more than the high-tech innovations that so many undertake in the hope of making millions. “I came purely for the excitement, and it’s just a lot of fun,” he says. “We cannot work on a one-year timescale. The potential of this technology is far away. But I can say I was there at the beginning.”

It’s not quite going to the moon, but it may turn out to be just as significant.
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