Working in the field of nanotechnology, which deals with the smallest of materials, is a large aspect of Stephen Fonash's life.

"He has an infinite amount of energy," Robert McGrath, associate vice president of research at Penn State, said of Fonash, who is the Kunkle chair professor of engineering sciences and director of the Penn State Nanofabrication Facility.

When Penn State decided to build a Nanofabrication Facility 10 years ago, Fonash's energy was instrumental in its creation.

"The Penn State facility opened seven years ago -- way before many people were thinking about nanotechnology," Fonash said.

Students acknowledge Fonash's ability to look ahead to the future.

"He not only follows the flow of the field of research, he predicts it," said Joe Cuiffi (graduate-engineering science and mechanics). "It's unbelievable."

But such an endeavor is quite costly.

"The federal government said there can't be too many facilities like this," Fonash said. "It's too expensive."

He wrote a proposal to the National Science Foundation for Penn State's facility to be part of the NSF National Nanofabrication Users Network. The university was selected over such schools as Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of California at Berkeley.

Because of that, Penn State receives funding from the foundation to run the facility.

In the United States, there are only three other full-service nanofabrication facilities: Stanford, Cornell and the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Fonash said the nanofabrication facility is "a facility that is open to students and faculty and all of University Park as well as the industrial world."

Thirty colleges and universities use the facility. Private businesses enjoy the $25 million equipment as well.

"The facility plays a huge role in education and in economic development with big companies and startup companies," Fonash said.

He said the businesses could conduct research and development "without disturbing their product."

The facility has brought a lot of prestige to Penn State, Fonash said.

"(People) look to you for help in cutting-edge technology," he said.

Fonash is involved in a variety of nanofabrication projects, including thin film transistors, biotechnology and microfluidics. Work in nanofabrication takes place in sizes from one to 100 nanometers, which is comparable to the size of drug molecules and viruses.

Thin film transistors are lightweight electronic instruments that can be placed on everyday objects and perform duties such as changing the tint on a picture or serving as a locator on people's outfits.

"We're looking to take the functions on a semi-conductor and put them on people's clothing or a window (for example)."

Fonash has spent much of his time improving the detection of molecules.

The molecules become stuck on a thin film, a laser separates them and the molecules travel toward a detector.

"By the time of flight you can tell the weight of the molecule," Fonash said.

This procedure also has received attention from private businesses.

"This is of great interest for drug companies," Fonash said.

He said that in about six months, the technique could come on the market.

Fonash also is involved in the field of microfluidics.

"It's a system where you can use this technology to make tiny microfludic channels," he said.

These channels are .10 the size of a human hair. Chemicals used by pharmaceuticals are very expensive and difficult to test.

"With this technology, you don't need much of them, and you can send it to precise locations."

Fonash said nanotechnology was the joining of three rivers: nanoelectronics, biology and chemistry.

His work requires the test rooms to be uncontaminated.

"The air is changed two to three times a minute," said Fonash.

He said that if particulate matter invaded the rooms, "it would be like a boulder falling."

He also called nanofabrication an emerging field.

"The reason small things are so important is we now can make all kinds of tiny things that used to be (done by) only Mother Nature," he said.

Fonash is not relegated only to research. This semester he is teaching graduate students, but in the past, he taught undergraduates.

He said the difference between the two groups was, for graduate students, "you're contributing to the direction of somebody's life," but with undergraduate students "(you're) helping people choose from a multitude of paths."

His impact on teaching does not go unnoticed.

Daniel Hayes (graduate-engineering science and mechanics) said, " He's one of the most dynamic individuals I have ever met."

Fonash enjoys research in the lab and being in the classroom.

"They're very complementary," he said. "I don't like one better than the other. That's why I stayed at the university."

At home, Fonash enjoys working with his hands, whether it is gardening or constructing a stone patio.

"My field is nanotechnology, but I'm not afraid to do anything big," he said. "I love building things from model trains and patios to nanofabrication facilities."

Fonash hopes the general public understands that engineers think what "we create has a sense of elegance" and that they are not "boring.

"To me, engineering is a daily hand-to-hand combat with Mother Nature," he said.