Mihail C. Roco is the founding chair of the US

National Science and Technology Council The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) is a council in the Executive Branch of the United States. It is designed to coordinate science and technology policy across the branches of federal government. History The National Science and ...

subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering and Technology (NSET), and is Senior Advisor for Science and Engineering, including Nanotechnology, at the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

. He is also the editor in chief of the

Journal of Nanoparticle Research The ''Journal of Nanoparticle Research'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. It focuses mainly on physical, chemical, and biological phenomena and processes in structures of sizes comparab ...

Early career

Roco obtained a doctorate from the Polytechnic University of Bucharest (1976). He was Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

(1981–1995), and held visiting professorships at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

(1988–1989),

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

(1993–1995),

Tohoku University , or is a Japanese national university located in Sendai, Miyagi in the Tōhoku Region, Japan. It is informally referred to as . Established in 1907, it was the third Imperial University in Japan and among the first three Designated National ...

(1989), and

Delft University of Technology Delft University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Delft), also known as TU Delft, is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. As of 2022 it is ranked by QS World University Rankings among ...

(1997–98). He has played a leadership role in the

National Nanotechnology Initiative The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) is a research and development initiative which provides a framework to coordinate nanoscale research and resources among United States federal government agencies and departments. History Mihail ...

, nanoscale science and engineering research and education, particulate and multiphase systems, and in developing perspectives on the societal

implications of nanotechnology The impact of nanotechnology extends from its medical, ethical, mental, legal and environmental applications, to fields such as engineering, biology, chemistry, computing, materials science, and communications. Major benefits of nanotechnolog ...

. He pioneered convergence science, identifying basic theories, principles and methods for convergence, and applied it to various platforms such as convergence of nanotechnology with bio-, cognition-, digital- and other fields for various goals, in what is sometimes called ''converging'' and emerging technologies. He is credited with thirteen patents and has contributed over two hundred articles and twenty books on mass transfer, rotating machinery, multiphase systems, computer simulations, nanoparticles and nanosystems, trends in emerging technologies, knowledge convergence and societal implications. Roco coordinated the preparation of the U.S.

reports on "Nanotechnology Research Directions" in 1999 and the "National Nanotechnology Initiative" in 2000. Under his stewardship the nanotechnology federal investment has increased from about $3 million in 1991 at NSF to $1.8 billion in 2010. The cumulative National Nanotechnology Initiative investment in research and development is about $38 billion in 2022. He served as associate editor for Journal of Fluids Engineering and for Journal of Measurement Science and Technology.

Awards

Forbes magazine ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also rep ...

recognized him in 2003 as the first among "Nanotechnology’s Power Brokers" and

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it ...

named him one of 2004's top 50 Technology Leaders. He was declared engineer of the year in 1999 and 2004 by NSF and the U.S.

National Society of Professional Engineers The National Society of Professional Engineers (abbreviate as NSPE) is a professional association representing licensed professional engineers in the United States. NSPE is the recognized voice and advocate of licensed Professional Engineers repr ...

. Dr. Roco is the 2005 recipient of the

AIChE The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) is a professional organization for chemical engineers. AIChE was actually established in 1908 to distinguish chemical engineers as a profession independent of chemists and mechanical engineer ...

Forum Award "''for leadership and service to the national science and engineering community through initiating and bringing to fruition the National Nanotechnology Initiative''". He received the National Materials Advancement Award from the Federation of Materials Societies in 2007 for NNI leadership and “''as the individual most responsible for support and investment in nanotechnology by government, industry, and academia worldwide''”. In 2011 he received the ChinaNANO Award from the

Chinese Academy of Science The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republ ...

. Dr. Roco received the inaugural award of the International Union of Materials Research Societies "Global Leadership and Service Award" in 2015 for "''vision and dedicated leadership ...that has made major impact to all citizens around the world''."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roco, Mihail Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Politehnica University of Bucharest alumni Scientific American people