Leading a lab that has pioneered
work ranging from Y-shaped nanotubes
and resonant interband
tunneling devices to DNA engineering,
Jimmy Xu, the Charles C.
Tillinghast, Jr. '32 University
Professor of Physics and
Engineering, is most interested in
the big questions he and his students
ask in the early stages of
their research in molecular and
quantum science and engineering.
"We like to go to uncharted
waters-places where no one has
ever been," he says, "especially
the intersection of physics, engineering,
and biomedical sciences.
We ask questions like: Can we
map the 'wiring' and architecture
of the brain and borrow from that
for the designs of future computers
and internets? If chameleons
can change colors and lizards can
climb walls, why can't we? And if
we can make silicon do so much
for digital electronics, can we
make it emit light to transmit and
display information, too? Of
course we do much more than just
ask those questions-we work
very hard to find the answers."
Professor Xu believes Brown's collaborative research environment gives it an edge at a time when the world's most exciting investigations are occurring at the nexus of several fields. "Brown is a place where individually you can find extremely talented scholars," he says, "but collectively they are in such a free and relaxed setting- they do science for the joy of science. I'm proud of the fact that we are still doing science because it's fun-a privilege that has been lost at many other places."