Rawlings' day in D.C. includes a CU nanosaxophone for Clinton

The silicon chip on which 287,900 tiny images of a saxophone form an image of President Bill Clinton playing his sax is imbedded in a Lucite paperweight that will be placed in the Clinton Presidential Library. Nicola Kountoupes/University Photography

By Bill Steele

Presenting the world's smallest saxophone to the White House and describing recent Cornell research for a radio audience were among the activities that filled a day in Washington, D.C., for Cornell President Hunter Rawlings on July 13. Rawlings and four other Cornellians joined delegations from 50 institutions in a series of Capitol Hill events sponsored by the Science Coalition, a nationwide organization that lobbies for continued federal support for basic scientific research.

Along with Cornell, New York state delegations included representatives from Columbia University, the State Universities of New York at Stony Brook and Buffalo, and Syracuse University. Their day included breakfast with the New York state congressional delegation, a visit with members of the White House staff, a luncheon recognizing members of Congress whom the Science Coalition has named "Champions of Science" and a private meeting with New York Sen. Charles Schumer.

Joining Rawlings for the day of lobbying were Stephen Philip Johnson, assistant vice president for government affairs; Sheila Hemami, assistant professor of electrical engineering; Elizabeth LaPolt, legislative associate for government affairs in Cornell's D.C. office; and Heather Muscato, administrative assistant in that office.

At the White House, Rawlings presented a nanosaxophone paperweight, created by the Cornell Nanofabrication Facility, to John Podesta, President Clinton's chief of staff, for inclusion in the Clinton presidential library. The memento actually contains 287,900 tiny saxophone images, each 6-by-8 millionths of a meter, or about the size of a red blood cell. The tiny images are arranged on a "presidential blue" silicon nitride chip to form an 8-millimeter-wide silhouette of the president playing the saxophone.

"We are confident this is the smallest gift any president has ever received," Rawlings said.

The nanosaxophone, he explained, was made to illustrate the Cornell Nanofabrication Facility's ability to manufacture the world's smallest devices, used in biology, medicine, chemistry, electronics, optics and physics.

Later in the day, Rawlings presented a Science Coalition "Champion of Science" award to Rep. Norman Dicks (D-Washington). Rawlings acted on behalf of Sam Smith, president of the University of Washington, who was unable to attend. Dicks is a 12-term member of Congress and a member of the Defense and Interior Appropriations subcommittees. Rawlings described him as "a determined and vocal champion of the research on which national security is based."

Smith asked Rawlings to make the presentation because of the two universities' common interest in Department of Defense-sponsored research and their common status as land-grant institutions. Cornell received $17,653,000 in Department of Defense research funding in fiscal 1999, making DOD its fourth largest source of federal research dollars after the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and NASA.

After the formal event, Rawlings and several other university presidents met with Podesta and other White House staff. Among other topics, they discussed funding for nanotechnology research. According to Johnson, this has been a priority with the Clinton administration, which has sought to increase funding for the field. Budget bills working through Congress so far have not incorporated the full request, Johnson said, adding that getting these increases is one goal of Cornell lobbying efforts.

While Rawlings was meeting with White House staff, Hemami and LaPolt called on staff members for several New York legislators. The focus of the Science Coalition event was on having young investigators like Hemami explain their research to legislative delegations from their home states.

Hemami is the director of the Visual Communications Laboratory in the School of Electrical Engineering. Her research focuses on the communication of images via the Internet and other electronic pathways and aims to make it possible to transmit still pictures and video even over low-bandwidth systems. Her work is funded by the Department of Energy. She is the winner of the 2000 C. Holmes MacDonald Outstanding Teaching Award from Eta Kappa Nu, the national electrical and computer engineering honor society, and received a National Science Foundation career award in 1997.

Electron microscope photos of the single saxophone images, left, and the silhouette they form, based on a photograph of Clinton. Micrographs by Richard Tiberio and Teresa Emery; silhouette by Melanie-Claire Mallison

Most such lobbying is not aimed at specific funding, Johnson said. Rather, he said, "You're strengthening their resolve. Nobody's against science funding, but we want them to fight hard for it." Schumer, Johnson said, agreed to make science funding a priority and to sign a letter recommending increased funding for basic science written by Sens. Christopher "Kit" Bond (R-Missouri) and Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland), chair and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate VA/HUD and Independent Agencies subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which controls the National Science Foundation.

The nanosaxophone chip was created by Cornell Nanofabrication Facility staff members Richard Tiberio, Michael Skvarla, Karlis Musa and Melanie-Claire Mallison, and undergraduate research intern Teresa Emery. The paperweight in which it is mounted was crafted by the Advanced Design and Fabrication Facility of the Cornell College of Engineering, and it was designed by Michael Harding, director of the facility. The project was directed by Alton Clark, associate director of the Cornell Nanofabrication Facility