CAIRO — The renowned Egyptian scientist Mostafa El-Sayed, Director of the Laser Dynamics Laboratory at Georgia University, USA, said that Egypt has made a significant progress in the use of nanotechnology in the agricultural research and animal health research. El-Sayed stressing importance of benefiting from the scientific research in various areas of life, especially in the field of protecting human and animal from diseases while providing healthy and safe food. Speaking to the second international conference on the food safety and technology, El-Sayed said he is currently working with fellow researchers in Egypt to prepare two research papers on the use of nanotechnology in the treatment of cancer through application on small animals. He appreciated the Ministry of Agriculture which provides the necessary support and finance to the research centers in various fields of agriculture and animal health. The uses of nano particles in biomedical research extends from the external to the internal. Dr Mohamed Swillam, assistant professor of physics at AUC, is focused on nano-photonics or optics. This is a new field in physics, at the nano-scale, that integrates nanotechnology with light. In previous research, for which Swillam won the Best Publication in Physical Science award from Misr El-Kheir Foundation in 2013, he proposed an ultrafast method to control and manipulate a laser beam on a nanoscale. His research has application in nanolithography, whereby tiny electronic devices control and manipulate nanoparticles to deliver drugs within the human body. “It can move a drug from one location to the other using light, like a nano-optical tweezer,” he said. Far removed from the human body, Dr Hanadi Salem, Professor in Materials Science and Director of the Nanotechnology Program at AUC, is researching severe plastic deformations to take bulk materials and reduce them to the nano level. One project involving applied nanotech is to produce components of superior mechanical properties and with optimum resistance, such as self-lubricating solids and high-wear resistance materials. Such development can be used to produce gears for machines with high wear resistance, and carbon nanotubes for metal-based break pads for vehicles. Last year, Salem's team tested a self-lubricating solid in Germany that they had produced. “We had excellent performance, with very low wear rates. It has the capability to be commercialized,” she said. A further area under research is thermomechanical treatment associated with intense plastic deformation related to steel rebar – the steel rods commonly used to reinforce concrete in buildings. By restructuring low carbon steel it produces equal strength and toughness as conventional steel but at a lower cost and with similar properties. Salem and students have managed to refine the structure from two microns to one micron using thermo-mechanical treatment. The second stage is to take it to the nano-scale, for which Salem has applied for grants and is seeking collaboration with the steel industry. — SG
