Current Positions

• 2008.......Professor, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand (Bangkok)

  2006- Present Director, Center of Excellence in Nanotechnology (AIT)
• 2005- Present Associate Dean, School of Engineering & Technology (AIT)
• 2006- Present Visiting Professor, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland
• 2005- Present Visiting Professor- International Nanomasters Programme, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

• 2003-2008: Associate Professor, Microelectronics, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand
• 1997-2002: Adjunct faculty Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Switzerland
• 1996-1997 & 2003: Group Leader Nanomaterials and faculty Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
• 1993-1996: Scientist Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
• 1992: Post Doctoral Fellow Ecole Polytechnique, France
• 1991: Post Doctoral Fellow Electrotechnical Laboratory, Japan

• 2001-2002: Industrial Project Leader- Special Projects Bobst SA, Switzerland
• 2000-2001: Project Manager CNET SA, Switzerland 1999-2000: Senior Scientist Phonak AG, Switzerland 1997-1999: Product Manager Balzers Process Systems (now UNAXIS AG), Switzerland

Research Highlights

• 3 Text books published (http://www.magnetmail.net/actions/email_web_version.cfm?recipient_id=147836055&message_id=663533&user_id=TaylorFran)
• 7 Book Chapters
• 3 patents granted (5 applications ongoing)
• Over 100 Peer Reviewed Original Research Publications
• Scopus H index = 14 ; citations > 620 (http://www.scopus.com/)
• Cited in a article published in the online publication Scienceline, October 12th, 2007 (http://scienceline.org/2007/10/12/technology-cooper-fingerprintsdrugs/)
• Work on fungi assembled microwires highlighted in the MRS Bulletin in October 2007 issue as a “NanoBio Focus News”
• Contribution to the Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, edited by Hari Singh Nalwa and published by American Scientific Publishers, 2004 which won the ‘2005 Best Reference Book Award’ from the Engineering Libraries Division of the American Society for Engineering Education
• Advised a group of students who were awarded the First Runner up of the South East Asian Region of the Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) – Business competition set-up by Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley with world's top business schools, including the Columbia Business School, London Business School, Indian School of Business and the Yale School of Management etc.

Our current research encompasses working in “poor-man’s nanotechnology”. The unifying concept in our laboratory is to make use of inexpensive wet-chemical methods to fabricate innovative materials and futuristic device components. Other interests include self-assembled functional materials and devices, use of microbial objects as templates for fabricating novel materials and application in specific devices. We have demonstrated fabrication of gold micro-wires by using these templates. We also carry out activities in developing an appropriate student training and research to contribute to the building up of human resources in nanotechnology.

In the future, self-organization of colloidal nanoparticles will be expanded to application in specific device designs using the unique size dependant properties of materials. This self organization will be done through thermodynamic equilibration/destabilization, bio-mimetic templating, and by “print-to-order” type of methods for specific applications. Our research is carried out in close collaboration with research groups in Thailand and abroad.  

Research Areas

Novel wet-chemical synthesis methods

·         Metal (e.g. gold, silver and platinum) nanoparticles

·         Semiconducting (e.g. ZnS, CdS, CdSe, ZnO, SnO₂, TiO₂, SiO₂) nanoparticles

·         Nanowires (gold, zinc oxide, and zinc sulphide)

·         Pyrosol Process (eg. Transparent conducting Oxide, decorative films etc.)

Directed self assembly of nanoparticles

·         Layer by layer deposition of thin films

·         Colloidal thin films

·         Colloidal self organization (nanowires)

·         Bio-mimetic self organization (micro-wires)

Applications of nanoparticles

·         Molecular sensing

·         Environmental sensors

·         Solar Cells

·         Photocatalytic degradation of organic contaminants

·         Passive electronic components by ‘Drop-on-Demand’ techniques (e.g. inkjet printing)

I have supervised Diploma and Ph.D. students at EPFL, and am currently supervising Master's and Doctoral students at AIT.

Refereed journal articles (2008- present):

Professional Fellows

• Fellow of the Institute of  Nanotechnology (IoN)
• Fellow of the Society of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (SNN)

Membership in Academic and Professional Associations

• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), USA
• Materials Research Society (MRS), USA
• Society of Industry Leaders, USA
• Gerson Lehrman Group Council, USA
• Asia-Pacific Nanotechnology Forum (APNF), Australia
• The NanoTechnology Group Inc., USA
• UK Futurists Network, United Kingdom
• The Science Advisory Board, USA  

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE - Advisor to the Thai National Nanotechnology Center, Co-editor of a special issue of the J. Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, Volume 6(2005) Organized conferences & served on program committees: - International Conference in Simulation and Modelling (SIMMOD 2005), 17-19 January 2005, Special Session Chair. - Symposium on Nanotechnology in Environmental Protection and Pollution, 12-14 January, 2005, Executive Symposium Committee - The Fourth AIT-KIST International Joint Symposium, 20th May, 2004, Organizing Committee - The 2nd Workshop on Regional Network Formation for Enhancing Research and Education on Materials Engineering and 3rd Thailand Materials Science & Technology Conference (MSAT2004), International Organizing Committee, 10-11 August 2004

REFEREEING OF JOURNAL ARTICLES, BOOKS, GRANT PROPOSALS, ETC. - Reviewer of research projects for the Swedish Science Foundation (2003, 2004 & 2005) - Panelist for the evaluation of Basic Research Grant in Chemistry and Materials Sciences for Enterprise Ireland, now Science Foundation Ireland (2003 & 2004) - Reviewer of International Journal of Nanoscience (IJN) - Reviewer of KMITL Research Journal - Reviewed papers during Materials Research Society meetings - Reviewer International Nanostructured Materials Conferences - Reviewer of Journal of Sol-Gel Technology and reviewer for numerous other journals

CONSULTING ACTIVITIES - Advisor of the Nanotechnology Center of Thailand (2005) - Advisor of the Nanotechnology HRD Roadmap Committee of Thailand (2003-2004) - APEC-Technology Foresight expert - Advisor to JICA survey on Nanotechnology in Thailand - Founding member of the European Consortium on Nanomaterials in 1996 and COST 523 action group Co-ordinated and wrote the text of the white paper that led to the COST 523 project document.

TEACHING

AT75-01 Microelectronics Fabrication Technology, AT75-12 Nanomaterials & Nanotechnology, AT75-09 Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, AT75-13 Failure Analysis of Devices, IN00.9009  Emerging Technologies, AT79.06 Catalysis, AT79.09 Colloids and Nanoparticles