US - Egypt Workshop on Laser Chemistry and Applications to Materials and Biomedical Research
Advances in the fields of chemistry, materials and medical research in the last few decades have been quite impressive, and much of these advances are related to better utilization of laser technology and tools. In Egypt there have been developments, during the same period, in laser facilities and in spectroscopic research and applications at universities and other government laboratories, including a major "Laser Centre" established at Cairo University. The proposed workshop will allow scientists from the U. S. and Egypt to exchange their experience, ideas, and information and to build collaborations to promote laser technology for the benefit of the public and private sectors. This will help facilitate economic development in Egypt and other regions of the Middle East.
Currently, there is extensive interest in the applications of ultrafast lasers to study dynamical processes in chemistry and biology with the ultimate goal of understanding complex systems at the molecular level. For example, ultrafast lasers have been used to study, for the first time, the dynamics and mechanisms of the elementary processes of electron transfer in DNA with femtosecond resolution. A variety of laser techniques such as laser fluorescence excitation and resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization have been developed to probe the dynamics and spectroscopy of molecular systems in different environments. The developments and applications of laser techniques such as laser multiphoton ionization mass spectrometry and cavity ring-down spectroscopy for analytical applications will continue to have significant impact on basic science as well as on materials, environmental, biomedical and device applications.
In materials science, laser-based techniques have been developed to synthesize and characterize a wide variety of scientifically and technologically interesting materials including metal and semiconductor clusters, quantum dots, fullerene systems, nanoparticles, nanowires, nanotubes, thin films and multilayers.
The applications of femtosecond lasers to study the ultrafast electron-hole dynamics in semiconductor nanoparticles have provided detailed information on the intrinsic properties of quantum confined systems which are used in many important technological applications such as the conversion of solar energy, detoxification of pollutants, imaging, sensors and opto-electronics.
Extensive research has been devoted to laser interactions with surfaces, laser processing of materials, coherent control of crystal lattice vibrations and terahertz spectroscopy. Studies of time-resolved spectroscopy of complex materials can lead to fundamental understanding of collective structural rearrangements and possible coherent control over material behavior and in-situ characterization of advanced materials.
The applications of lasers to measure nonlinear optical properties of conjugated organic molecules and materials provide a foundation for the rational design of molecules and nanostructured materials with tailored optical properties for a variety of exciting new applications in photonics, materials science, and biophysics. Optical technology, otherwise known as Photonics, is recognized as a dominant technology for the 21st Century. Its applications span a broad spectrum including fiber-optics telecommunications, high capacity optical information storage, optical methods of medical imaging and biopsy, light activated photodynamic cancer therapy, etc. Each of these areas is currently or projected to have a billion dollar/year market. The development of each of these applications is crucially dependent on the development of novel laser methods and techniques.
New generations of ultrafast lasers and related spectroscopic methods are being developed which will have significant impact on telecommunications and high capacity data storage, as well as on the newly emerging field of biophotonics, a light wave based biotechnology..
In biomedical research, advanced laser methods have been developed to characterize biological tissues, pre-cancerous changes and image disease via endoscopy and optical tomography and to provide spectral diagnosis.54-58 Over the last few years, the biomedical applications of lasers have been extended beyond the traditional uses in vision and dental research with a rapid growing interest in utilizing lasers as therapeutic means for clinical applications in cardiovascular medicine. Improved understanding of laser-tissue interactions and development of efficient and safe laser techniques for ablation, debulking, tissue welding and applications of ultrashort laser pulses are expected to open the door for the treatments of a myriad of complex syndromes and diseases.
It is clear from the above points that there is very real progress on many different fronts of Lasers Science and Technology. However, there are still significant opportunities and requirements for invention and discovery in the applications of lasers to fundamental science, materials and biomedical research.
While there have been several international conferences and workshops on lasers in chemistry, in materials science and medical science, a multidisciplinary forum to discuss this and the complementary fields of Lasers with specific focus on Egypt-US interactions has not been organized. We plan to bring together Egyptian and American researchers from various disciplines (e.g. chemistry, physics, and materials science, engineering and biomedical) so that outstanding problems can be brought into focus and new trends set for future investigations. We will not only assess the current status of the three focused areas of the workshop, but more importantly we will also discuss cooperative research and joint projects between the Egyptian and the American scientists and the technological and economical impact of these projects. The proposed scientific activities are expected to stimulate further industrial and technological applications, which would lead to economic development involving the private sectors in Egypt and United States.
The workshop will take place during the period of October 2-5, 2004 at the National Research Centre (NRC) in Cairo, Egypt. There will be four general sessions of talks and discussions dealing with:
1. Lasers and Properties, Applications in Fundamental Science.
2. Applications to Materials.
3. Applications in Biological and Medical Sciences.
4. Conclusions and Future Plans
The concluding session of the workshop will include a panel discussion of the outstanding problems in the fields of particular interest for development in Egypt, the plans for joint projects and research collaboration.
Proceedings:
Papers presented at the meeting will be published in a book entitled: "Laser Chemistry and Applications to Materials and Biomedical Research"
Language:
The official language is English.
Social Events:
A reception (Friday evening, October 1, 2004), workshop Dinner (Monday evening, October 4, 2004), and an excursion to the pyramids and the Egyptian museum will be arranged for the workshop participants and their companions.
The Egyptian Participants:
The Egyptian participants will be selected from academia, government laboratories and the private sector.
The US Participants:
The interdisciplinary nature of the proposed workshop is reflected in the choice of the participants. They are researchers from various disciplines and represent academia, and government laboratories. The US list includes:
- Professor Kit Bowen (Johns Hopkins University)
- Professor Will Castleman, Jr. (Pennsylvania State University)
- Professor Paul J. Dagdigian (Johns Hopkins University)
- Professor Mostafa El-Sayed (Georgia Institute of Technology)
- Professor M. Samy El-Shall (Virginia Commonwealth University)
- Professor Michael S. Feld (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
- Professor Richard F. Haglund, Jr. (Vanderbilt University)
- Professor Nancy Levinger (Colorado State University)
- Professor Anthony J. Pedraza (University of Tennessee)
- Professor David Pratt (University of Pittsburgh)
- Professor Bruce Tromberg (University of California, Irvine)
- Professor Xianfan Xu (Purdue University)
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US - Egypt Workshop on Laser Chemistry and Applications to Materials and Biomedical Research
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