Inovation leads to R&D 100 Award

7/3/2012 By Kathryn L. Heine

William KingAnasys Instruments has won the prestigious R&D 100 award for its new VESTA product, a tool which revolutionizes thermal analysis with its ability to perform "point & click" micro and nano thermal analysis at the push of a button. The award was based in part on heated atomic force microscope cantilevers developed by William King, an associate professor of mechanical science and engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Written by By Kathryn L. Heine

William P. King
William P. King
William King
Anasys Instruments has won the prestigious R&D 100 award for its new VESTA product, a tool which revolutionizes thermal analysis with its ability to perform "point & click" micro and nano thermal analysis at the push of a button. The award was based in part on heated atomic force microscope cantilevers developed by William King, an associate professor of mechanical science and engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

This is the second time King's work has been so recognized. In 2007, the nanoscale thermal analysis technique developed by King won Research and Development magazine's R & D 100 Award for being one of the 100 most technologically significant innovations to enter the market as well as its Micro/Nano 25 Award for one of the 25 most significant micro/nano technology innovations.

Named by MIT's Technology Review as one of the most innovative people under the age of 35 in 2006, King has developed tools and techniques that bridge the gap between academia and industry and allow the emerging field of nanoscience to move from the laboratory to production. One of the obstacles to the industrial adoption of micro- and nano-technology is that the materials and processes currently used for the fabrication of micro and nano structures are too expensive.

"A key feature of this invention is that it enables nanometer-scale measurements without the substantial costs and complexity usually required for nanotechnology," King explained. "Industry was very quickly drawn to our approach, so I expect to see more innovations that attempt to make the tools of nanotechnology easy to use."

The VESTA is a localized thermal analysis product which enables customers to obtain phase transition temperatures with micro- and nanoscale resolution. This compares to the sample-averaged information that may be obtained using traditional bulk thermal analysis tools.

King's research group at Illinois develops thermal processing tools that are used for manufacturing, metrology and materials analysis at the micrometer and nanometer scales. These tools and techniques make high-volume production of nanotechnology-based products economically feasible.

"We have helped to overcome that barrier by developing tools that set the stage for cost-effective mass-production of micro- and nanostructures using commonly used materials, such as glass, plastic, rubber, ceramic and metal," King stated.

In addition to his considerable publishing output, King holds four patents, is a scientific advisory board member for eight companies. He was a recipient of a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Development (CAREER) Award in 2003 and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2005. The Department of Energy Defense Program awarded him an Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2005 and the Office of Naval Research similarly recognized King with a Young Investigator Award in 2007. King was named a Kritzer Faculty Scholar when he joined the Illinois faculty in 2006.

Article courtesy of Rick Kubetz, Engineering Communications Office, College of Engineering


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This story was published July 3, 2012.