Abstract
The National Institute for Materials Science in Nanotechnology (NIMSN), is being proposed by researchers of Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares (IPEN), Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa (UEPG), Universidade Federal de Piauí (UFPI), Universidade de Brasília (UnB), Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG), Universidade Estadual de Goiás (UEG), Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas (CBPF) and Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica do Maranhão (CEFET-MA). The present interaction among all researchers of these universities is evidenced by publications in international journals of high index of impact, which consists of an integrated research community involving different universities and institutes. The activities of the proposed Institute will be totally focused on the improvement of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research. The Institute is being assembled with the multifold mission of encouraging basic and applied research - so that new knowledge can be constantly generated - and promoting a systematic transfer to the society for technological applications and educational purposes. To achieve these goals, the Institute elects the industry and the schools of all levels as qualified partners for managing the present proposal. In addition, the Institute is committed to provide channels to link new knowledge to society. It must also provide excellent scientific education, renewing links between faculty members and students, so that students could share with their teachers the joy of a scientific discovery. The NIMSN has as its main focus to produce knowledge through the basic study on synthesis, characterization and processing of ceramic materials, and also to apply such knowledge on the development of high-performance electronic ceramics. This knowledge will be generated at different institutions, from the south to the northeast of the country. That will make the knowledge decentralized and diffused, generating social and economical benefits in different regions of the country. Besides the technological developments, which should contribute in a straight manner for the social benefit, an important part of the project is the diffusion of knowledge in all levels, i.e., from the basic level to the post-graduate level. In order to manage properly the project, three divisions will be created, namely, Research Division (RD), Innovation Division (ID) and Continuous Education and Dissemination Division (CEDD). The guiding line of the RD is to support the other two divisions, through the study and development of ceramic materials, either advanced or traditional ceramics. The knowledge generated through the basic research carried out by the RD will be employed, either directly or indirectly, to aid solving problems brought by industry, as demands for new materials, processes and products. These new insights derived from basic research will also be of direct use in the process of education of students at high school, undergraduate and graduate courses. The RD is composed by: Chemical Synthesis, Non-Crystalline Materials, Electrochromic and Optical Materials, Semiconductors and Ferroelectric Materials, Magnetic Materials, Ceramic nanometric pigments, Composites and Computer modeling,. The ID is meant to develop new products and new production techniques for processing and quality control, searching for results of commercial interest and favorable cost-to-benefit ratio. To push down costs while optimizing projects, corporation partners will be associated to university through the Institute, in a productive chain in which researchers interact with suppliers of materials, the company which processes these products and, eventually, with the final user, usually a different company. As an example of a successful chain one can cite a previous interaction with CSN, White Martins, Faber Castell, Togni Materiais Refratários, Tecnident Materiais Odontológicos, Ângelus Ind. Prod. Odontológicos Ltda, Petrobras, KosmoScience, Nanox, Natura and Unilever (Table 1). This mode of operation is common in the relationship with industry partners. The interaction with the steel-making company, for example, has been active for 16 years, with 42 projects completed with prominent financial results. The Institutes proposal for technological development involves the production of inert refractories for avoiding corrosion by alkaline vapor and melted alkaline earth oxides. It involves also the study of new routes for obtaining pigments for ceramics. This approach is crucial in order to obtain high quality tiles for both the domestic and the external markets. The CEDD will be an active body, permanently concerned with education affairs, devoted to detect and effectively satisfy necessities of public schools teachers and students. A permanent goal of the CEDD is to develop and maintain Continuous Education programs for teachers and technicians and to disseminate science and technology to the society. The CEDD will also develop mechanisms to become self-sufficient upon its complete implementation. Considering now the Innovation Division, in our opinion, the best way to evaluate the innovation is to take into account the total budget, number of patents and number of PhD students hired by industries that have searched our laboratories for solving their problems. Table I presents a summary of our innovation activities during the recent years. (AU)
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