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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: EP/F010036/1
Title: The Matter Compiler
Principal Investigator: Wright, Dr H
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department: Computer Science
Organisation: University of Hull
Scheme: Standard Research
Starts: 01 September 2007 Ends: 30 April 2009 Value (£): 6,092
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Chemical Synthetic Methodology Software Engineering
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:
EP/F009801/1 EP/F009933/1 EP/F009917/1 EP/F010265/1
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
An ambition to assemble molecules and materials under atomically precise control demands a big leap forward in control engineering and computer science. Is it possible to anticipate the properties and needs of a 'nano-assembler'? If so, there is a need for a high level instruction language and a computer compiler that translates commands in this language into instructions for the 'nano-assembler'. This development will require a breakthrough in understanding of chemical synthesis that must embrace the radically new 'pick and place' assembly method which is now possible in scanning probe microscopy (SPM). The Matter Compiler project is thus both an exercise in foresight, to anticipate developments in this area, and a prototype implementation for the engineering control and computer science aspects of directed molecular assembly. It has as inputs data from SPM experiments of collaborators, energy landscapes for 'pick and place' reactions and the vast knowledge base of classical synthetic chemistry, including methodologies such as retrosynthesis. This will be supplemented by reaction schemes for 'pick and place' reactions deduced from energy landscapes calculated from first principles and the technology of object oriented databases and inference engines.This result will be a first important and fundamental step towards the still distant vision of directed molecular assembly.
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Further Information:  
Organisation Website: http://www.hull.ac.uk