Krishnaprasad, Jarzynski part of 'Information Engines' MURI

Professor P. S. Krishnaprasad (ECE/ISR) and Professor Christopher Jarzynski (Chem-Biochem/IPST) are part of a new Army Research Office Multi-University Research Initiative (MURI) grant, "Information Engines: Nanoscale Control, Computing and Communication out of Equilibrium." The five-year award was recently announced by the Department of Defense.

Drawing on four distinct perspectives--computational mechanics, nonequilibrium thermodynamics, control theory, and nanoscale experiments--this project will investigate fundamental principles and algorithms for the creation of synthetic nanosystems that are able to gather, store, and manipulate information while immersed in a thermally noisy environment. Such capabilities appear to be a basis for achieving directed nanoscale flows of matter and energy. The team's research is also expected to yield insights into bio-molecular complexes with similar functionality.

The multi-university research team consists of James Crutchfield, University of California, Davis (lead institution); Gavin Crooks and Michael DeWeese, University of California, Berkeley; Henry Hess, Columbia University; and Jarzynski and Krishnaprasad from the University of Maryland.

About the MURI program
The MURI program supports research by teams of investigators that intersect traditional science and engineering disciplines to accelerate research progress. Most of the program’s efforts involve researchers from multiple academic institutions and academic departments. The highly competitive program complements other Department of Defense basic research efforts that support traditional, single-investigator university research grants. MURIs support multidisciplinary teams with larger and longer awards, in carefully chosen research topics identified for their potential for significant and sustained progress.

Published July 17, 2013