Brookhaven Lab Celebrates National Nanotechnology Day on October 9

The Center for Functional Nanomaterials will mark "Nano Day" with activities to raise awareness of the science and impact of the ultrasmall, where objects span only billionths of a meter

October 4, 2023

In celebration of National Nanotechnology Day (October 9), the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) will hold an image contest for CFN staff and users.

Image contest winners

This first-place image from the 2022 contest (left), "A Moment of Gold Nanoparticle Agglomeration in its Drying Aqueous Suspension Around an Air Bubble," was submitted to the Scientific and Technical category by CFN staff member Feiyue Teng. The runner-up in that category (right) "Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tasked with Dreaming About Nanomaterials," was submitted by CFN staff member Kevin Yager. See below for the two winning images from the "Life at the CFN" category.

October 9 is National Nanotechnology Day, an annual event led by the National Nanotechnology Initiative. National Nanotechnology Day was conceived to raise awareness of nanotechnology through events and activities held by schools, labs, and organizations. The date (10/9) is a nod to the nanometer scale: 10-9 meters, or one billionth of a meter.

Image contest winners

Left: First Place Winner: My Life at the CFN (left) "The sky speaks in a thousand colors " by Sayantani Sikder, CFN User, Stony Brook University

Right: Second Place Winner: My Life at the CFN - " Painting of CFN directors, generated by an AI mimicking the style of Vincent van Gogh." by Kevin Yager, CFN Staff, Brookhaven National Laboratory

The Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory is one of five DOE Nanoscale Science Research Centers that are participating. This year, the CFN is celebrating by:

  • Hosting an image contest for CFN staff and users
  • Sharing a virtual tour of CFN facilities 
  • Creating social media “spotlights” of CFN staff
  • Special Nano Day Coffee Break Oct. 11th: Celebrating National Nanotechnology Day, Indigenous Peoples' Day, and Hispanic Heritage Month

Brookhaven National Laboratory is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit science.energy.gov.

Follow @BrookhavenLab on social media. Find us on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

2023-21489  |  INT/EXT  |  Newsroom