High School student works on nanotechnology project,

wins science fair

Blacksburg, May 7, 2002

Shivan Sarin is only a high school sophomore. But he is already a master in the emerging field of
nanotechnology.

Sarin recently won one of two grand awards in a science fair competition based on work he
conducted to create a solar cell using the art of nanotechnology.

Sarin, who attends William Flemming High School and who is also a student at the Roanoke
Valley Governors School, learned about nanotechnology by reading scientific papers from
technical publications such as the Journal of Physics and Chemistry and a world conference
proceedings on the subject of photovoltaic solar energy conversion.

Sarin, first in his class of some 360 students at William Flemming, had his interest in
nanotechnology peaked when he read an article in the Roanoke Times describing the activities of
a Blacksburg, Va. company, NanoSonic, Inc. The company was in the initial stages of
developing a prototype of a nanotechnology school kit for middle school children. The U.S.
Department of Education was funding this work.

Subsequently, Sarin approached Richard O. Claus, president of NanoSonic, as well as the

director of Virginia Techs Fiber & Electro-Optics Research Center (FEORC) to determine if he
might be able to pursue an independent nanotechnology project with FEORC.

Claus agreed, and Sarin spent three to four days a week for several months visiting the Virginia
Tech lab. A Virginia Tech chemical engineering graduate student, Jean Huie, assisted Sarin with
how to use the labs instrumentation and some additional background research.

"Shivan is a highly motivated student who worked hard and learned a great deal to take part in
the research at NanoSonic. His work with NanoSonic represents a great example of a student
doing quality research, motivated by his own interests and desire to learn," says Aaron Schuetz, a
physics teacher at the Governors School, and described by Sarin as "his mentor."

But even mentors know their students limitations. "Shivan made my job as his teacher very
easy. He worked hard, learned a lot, and performed some excellent research. All that was left for
me to do was nag him about turning in papers," Schuetz smiles.

In the FEORC lab, and working in conjunction with the NanoSonic project, Sarin created
nanocrystalline titanium dioxide-based dye-sensitized solar cells. These cells use nanotechnology
methods to complete a circuit and to create a voltage. The energy comes from the transformation
of light into an electrical current.
"I attempted to optimize the solar cells efficiency by changing different parts of the solar cell. In
some cases, I changed an element. For example, there are dyes used in the solar cells, and the
dye allows the electrons to flow through the cell and release electrons into the titanium dioxide.
When the dye is excited, it can release more electrons," Sarin explains.

FEORC researchers patented an electrostatic self-assembly (ESA) process used in

nanotechnology that, among other characteristics, is able to operate at room temperature for most
manufacturing needs, and one that is environmentally benign. NanoSonic has licensed this and
other related patents from Virginia Tech.

Sarin hopes that this ESA process combined with his novel approach to making solar cells will
provide a more economical manufacturing procedure in the future. He is competing in the Intel
International Science Fair in Louisville later this year as a result of his winning the regional fair.