David Alexander Britz (born November 23, 1980) is an American scientist and engineer who is best known for his contributions to the field of materials science and

nanotechnology Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal o ...

. In 2004, Britz and his colleagues at Oxford and the University of Nottingham won a place in the

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for creating the world's smallest test tube, by performing chemical reactions inside

carbon nanotube A scanning tunneling microscopy image of a single-walled carbon nanotube Rotating single-walled zigzag carbon nanotube A carbon nanotube (CNT) is a tube made of carbon with diameters typically measured in nanometers. ''Single-wall carbon na ...

s: "the nanotube has an inner diameter of approximately 1.2 nanometres, and a length of about 2 micrometers. Its volume is two zeptolitres (a zeptolitre is 10⁻²¹ litres), and around 2,000 molecules react in that space.

Britz graduated

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

from the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Science in the UK at the University of Oxford,

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

college in th
Department of Materials
and completed his doctoral thesis, titled "Structure and Bonding of Fullerenes and Nanotubes", in 2005. During his work at Oxford, David Britz created more than ten new carbon nanotube- and fullerene-based materials and processes. He has been awarded Honorable Mention for the 2002 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Dave Britz also competed for Oxford University in the 2005 Varsity

Boxing Match Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing boxing glove, protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a ...

against Cambridge, earning a Full Blue. Britz worked for the nanotechnology compan
Eikos
in Franklin, Massachusetts, and developed carbon nanotube inks for highly conductive transparent coatings and circuits to be used in a variety of ways, including for use in solar cells, the commercial displays market, and military applications. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts. David Britz participated in the 3M Strategic Business Development Summer Olympics in 2012.

External links

Article on David Britz in Nanotech NowTiny carbon cylinders set record
1980 births Living people American nanotechnologists University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni American scientists {{US-engineer-stub