Nano Innovation Challenge Winners Announced

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Nano Innovation Challenge. We were impressed with the number of innovative nanotechnology solutions students created to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. See the winning videos here!

And the winners are:

High School

1st place: Athens Drive High School
Biostill
Teacher: Shane Barry
Students: Martha, Drew, Evan Rashmi, and Will

2nd place: Rocky Mount High School
Bionic Brain Implant Innovation
Teacher: Emily Haggerty
Students: Cristal and Amahlah

3rd place: West Johnston High School
Water Filter
Teacher: Dorothy Holley
Students: Vanessa and Panalee

Middle School

1st place: WSFCS Virtual Academy
Nanotechnology Takes Flight!
Teacher: Leslie Russell
Students: Justin and Faythe

2nd place: Davis Drive
Mechanical Trees
Teacher: Elizabeth Crowell
Students: Hemanth, Avi, Aaron, and Genko

3rd place: Reedy Creek
UV Nano-Rays 500
Teacher: Chris Barth
Students: Dylan and Emily

Kun Luan’s Mosquito Captures “Most Unique Capability” Prize in National Image Competition

SEM image of a mosquito stylet

Thank you to everyone who voted for the RTNN images in the NNCI-wide image competition. Our hearty congratulations to Kun Luan for his winning image Elegant Mosquito Fascicle that reveals the micro-anatomy of a mosquito stylet. The image shows how the mosquito can bite through human skin by using its proboscis. Kun will receive $1,000 in travel support from the NNCI. Check out the other winners and honorable mentions here.

Congrats to our 2020 Image Contest Winners

A big thank you to everyone who submitted an image in the 2020 Image Competition. We are excited to announce the winners. Thanks to all who voted for these amazing images in the NNCI Image Contest, There’s Plenty of Beauty at the Bottom. Congratulations to Kun Luan for winning the national competition!

Most Stunning

Scyphosphaera apsteinii

Erin Meyer, University of North Carolina at Wilmington

The coccolithophore (single-celled algae) S. apsteinii grown in seawater with elevated concentrations of Sr. The elevated Sr disrupted the calcification of their calcite structures (coccoliths), resulting in a malformed morphology.

Most Unique Capability

Elegant Mosquito Fascicle

Kun Luan, NC State University

Elegant Mosquito Fascicle reveals the micro-anatomy of mosquito stylet. It can explain how the mosquito bites through human skin by using proboscis. The information conveyed from the image were used to engineer non-insecticide barriers, which can mechanically prevent the mosquito bite.

Most Whimsical

Nanoscale Star Wars

Phil Barletta, NC State University

This image shows a Au nanoparticle on a SiC sample surface. It has a striking resemblance to the Death Star! The NNF staff, along with a colleague in CBE, took some liberties in Photoshop to add the appropriate details to the image. This sample was fabricated and imaged at NNF.

Plenty of Beauty at the Bottom 2020 Image Contest

In honor of National Nanotechnology Day, the RTNN and NNCI are supporting the second annual “Plenty of Beauty at the Bottom” image contest. Do you have an image that you think could win most stunning, most unique, or most whimsical? If so, learn more and submit your image at the Image Contest Website. The deadline for image submission has been extended to September 18, 2020. Check out last year’s winners here.

Plenty of Beauty at the Bottom Image Contest

The RTNN and NNCI are supporting an image contest this month in honor of National Nanotechnology Day. Do you have an image that you think could win most stunning, most unique, or most trompe-l’oeil? If so, learn more and submit your image at the Image Contest Website. The deadline for image submission has been extended until September 25, 2019.