Located at AUC, the Yousef Jameel Science and Technology Research Center (YJ-STRC) is considered to be one of the most advanced facilities in the Middle East. It is home to six main research fields related to nanotechnology; micro- and nano-systems, nano-structured materials, surface chemistry, biotechnology, environmental research and novel diagnostics and therapeutics.

In charge of the micro- and nano-systems’ division is professor Sherif Sedky, the associate dean for graduate studies and research at AUC. Graduating from Cairo University in electronics engineering in 1992, Sedky has since completed several master’s degrees and holds numerous patents in the fields of thin film technology as well as several inventions of miniaturized devices that convert physical phenomena into electrical signals. His work has been quoted over 780 times in academic journals and research papers with an h-index of 14 [The h-index measures the impact of scholarship, in this case Sedky has had 14 papers cited at least 14 times.] He has also authored and coauthored over 90 international publications in journal and conferences.

Currently directing the YJ-STRC, Sedky is undertaking research in the micro- and nano-systems division with the aim of reducing the size of conventional systems while maintaining the same functionality.

“There are lots of things you can do if you shrink a system to the micro or nano-scale and that’s mainly the work we are doing here — the miniaturization of systems to the limit where it can harvest wasted energy to be self-sustained. This involves material development, device design and modelling, various disciplines of science and engineering and so forth,” Sedky says.

“Take for example, the systems in a car, like night vision. When we reduce the size to the micron scale, they will provide lots of added functionality to the macro systems without occupying significant space or burdening the system’s power supply.

Reducing the size of these systems to consume less energy is not the only goal; Sedky and his team’s work also aims to develop devices that can harvest wasted energy from the environment to power these systems.

“The fact that you need small amounts of energy is promising toward making use of otherwise wasted energy. When a car is moving it is vibrating and producing mechanical energy [but] if you have devices that can harvest this energy and transfer it into electrical energy then you can use it to power the nano-systems in the car,” Sedky explains.

Another example of wasted energy is the heat generated from our bodies; skin temperature is at 34 degrees Celsius where the average temperature of the environment is around 25 degrees. This difference in temperature generates energy in the vicinity of milliwatts.

“A [heart] pacemaker for instance is a device that can self-operate using the energy generated from temperature difference between the skin and the surrounding environment,” says Sedky.

Ezzeldin Soliman, a prominent researcher at AUC and a member of the micro and nano system group led by Sedky  is currently leading an effort on developing cutting-edge technology for a novel generation of solar cells called nano-antennas (nantennas). Typically, photovoltaic panels work by absorbing the sun’s solar radiation during the day and converting it to an electrical current. The nantennas, however, work 24 hours a day by absorbing the reflected heat from any body and converting it directly to electrical energy. They are a type of thermoelectric generator Sedky says.

“This is a new concept of solar cells that have an expected efficiency rate in the vicinity of 90%. Of course there are still a lot of technological challenges because we still need to develop the whole system that can rectify the signals generated from the nantennas,” says Sedky.

Conventional solar cells usually have an efficiency rate of 15–20%, this means that over 80% of the energy is lost making them an expensive type of alternative energy when these efficiency rates are converted to costs per kilowatt hour (KWh).

“Although the results are still preliminary, even if we reach [45% of efficiency] it will still be a breakthrough.”

He explains that all systems are now looking for self-sustainability, and there is no doubt that the work of the professor and the people at the YJ-STRC is taking giant leaps in the applications of such systems. What remains is the commercial application and for these inventions to go mainstream, a process that Sedky says could take years.

“It takes a very long time to commercialize these technologies, the research could take four to five years and then the development of the system itself takes another four or five years. We are doing the basic research here so it will take a long time before this goes mainstream.”

When it does, however, there is no doubt that it will change our perception of energy generation and consumption. Commercialization will definitely accelerate further development, opening new opportunities that we never thought could exist. bt