Images made by engineers sweep NFF's Nano Image competition

Three images produced by College of Engineering researchers swept the awards at the 2019 Plenty of Beauty at the Bottom Nano Image Competition sponsored by the Nebraska Nanoscale Facility (NFF) and National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI).

The competition, created to coincide with National Nanotechnology Day on October 9, celebrates the beauty of the micro- and nanoscale. The name references noted physicist Richard Feynman's 1959 lecture, "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom."

Judges chose winners in three categories -- Most Stunning, Most Unique Capability and Most Clever/Whimsical -- with the winning artwork to be printed, mounted and considered for inclusion in a traveling gallery exhibition. Images eligible for consideration for the awards must have been produced at NNF between August 2018 and August 2019.

This year's award winners are:

Most Stunning: "The Copper Garden," by Loic Constantin, graduate research assistant, Electrical and Computer Engineering (Yongfeng Lu's lab).

Most Unique Capability: "SiAg Chiral nanoplasmonic metasurfaces," by Ufuk Kilic, graduate teaching assistant, and Matthew Hilfiker, graduate research assistant, Electrical and Computer Engineering (Mathias Schubert lab).

Most Clever/Whimsical: "Happiness Comes in Waves," by Seefat Farzin, graduate research assistant, and Mohammad Mazharul Islam, graduate teaching assistant, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (Siamak Nejati's lab).

One or more of the award-winning images will also be entered into a national competition sponsored by NNCI, with winners from that competition receiving $1,000 to support travel to a professional conference.