Ilesanmi Adesida once thought Illinois was just one more state to fly over as he moved between coasts. He crossed the Midwest several times while working on doctoral research on one coast and visiting his wife on the opposite coast. It wasn’t until he landed a job interview in 1986 that he found something more.

"I saw opportunities here," he said. "The highly equipped facilities and the campus were impressive–all the opportunities I could have imagined were here."

That trip persuaded him to join the faculty of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, and he is now a professor and the director of the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory.

Adesida had discovered that he wanted to be an engineer during his high school days in Nigeria while being taught by Peace Corp volunteers. He came to the United States for his university education. After finishing his degrees at the University of California at Berkeley, he worked briefly at Cornell University and then took a university administrative position in his native country. He missed having his hands in research, however, which ultimately drew him to the University of Illinois. He became a U.S. citizen in 2002.

"These were big decisions–to come back, and then to stay, and then to become a U.S. citizen," he said. "This is where research is advancing the state of the art. Here, I can be part of that."

In the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory, researchers from around the world work to improve and invent devices and develop applications that are in high demand by industry. This is the kind of research that makes such consumer goods as satellite communications, computers, and telephones more efficient and reliable. As laboratory director, Adesida ensures that researchers always have the latest equipment–no easy task in a rapidly changing field where a single piece of equipment can cost as much as $2 million. Less tangible, but equally important, he ensures that the environment encourages researchers from diverse fields to interact and collaborate on projects.

Adesida recently shepherded the laboratory through an expansion of its mission in response to the growing use of exotic materials and new techniques in the engineering and biology disciplines. Once known simply as the Microelectronics Laboratory, the facility was renamed the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory to signal a broader capacity for research in the areas of photonics, microelectronics, biotechnology, and nanotechnology. At the same time, the college began forming the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, also directed by Adesida. This center is intended to focus the efforts of campus faculty members involved in nanotechnology research, whether they are in biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, or other fields.

"The next century will be one of revolutionary biology in the same way that past centuries saw the industrial revolution and the electronic revolution," Adesida predicted. "We have to figure out how to apply engineering to biology–how to make new kinds of widgets. By creating a field for biology in this building, we now have a confluence of nanotechnology and biology.

"We want to work with industry to make the Midwest a regional focus for nanotechnology and biotechnology," he added, "so people are not just flying over or away from Illinois. We expect a good mix of science and applications."

The Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory has attracted new state investment even as the economic downturn forced a hard assessment of expenditures. Research coming out of the laboratory is expected to create new industries and spur economic development. New industries also could mean more jobs for newly graduated scientists, an often overlooked, but critical resource being drained from Illinois, Adesida noted. Their research experience is so important that a company once tried to hire an entire student group working on a project.

"Even though our work has immediate application that can be transported to industry, we try to stay ahead of industry and look into the future," Adesida said, "so raids on our students are inevitable. We’ve seen far too many of our star graduates leave Illinois for the Silicon Valley.

"And U of I students are particularly good," he added. "These students are interested; they ask questions. Professors like that–they like to have the big ideas and then supervise students who can take an idea and run with it. The quality of our students is a big attraction to working in this facility."

Despite his responsibilities as director, Adesida also manages to have several research projects under way in the areas of nanostructures, semiconductor processing, and devices. His research interest is in making devices smaller, more powerful, and faster–electrodes that allow computers to process faster, cell phones that are more powerful, or lasers that make stoplights more efficient, for instance.

"All my work is experimental," he said. "We’re widget makers–a little sophisticated, perhaps, but we do actually make things. We also want to know why they work and how they work. That’s the fascinating science of making things."

Adesida’s research focus now is on evaluating silicon, gallium nitride, and other new and novel materials for high-speed information transmission to high-power devices. His research group is figuring out how to use the "blazingly fast" materials to make useful devices. Then they will work out ways to put the devices together to do whatever they are designed to do most effectively.

Discovery, he noted, is a powerful motivating force. "The anticipation of finding something new, seeing something not seen before, and then using that information to improve a process or a device–that’s what keeps us up all night writing proposals. I like to see things happen; I want to see discoveries move to industry."

Adesida is a member of the Bohmische Physical Society and a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He is a University Scholar and an associate member of the Center for Advanced Study.