After 30 years as a premier national nanotechnology research hub, Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility (CNF) will celebrate its birthday June 14 with the future in mind.

CNF expects hundreds of guests, including many from the Cornell research community, to attend its 30th anniversary celebration, "The Future of Nanotechnology." The event, doubling as the facility's annual meeting, will feature notable speakers, technical presentations and a poster session.

"This is not only to celebrate the past, but to plan for the future," said CNF director George Malliaras. "That's why we're bringing in the best of the best, to educate ourselves as to where we want to go."

Three invited experts will deliver remarks during the morning session, 7:30 a.m. to noon: Stanley Williams, senior fellow of HP Labs and founding director of its Quantum Science research group, will speak on future trends in nanotechnology; James Heath, professor of chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, will address the emerging field of nanomedicine; and Sheila Jasanoff, Harvard science and technology studies professor, will discuss ethical and social issues facing nanotechnology today.

The afternoon sessions, starting at 1:30 p.m., will comprise three tracks of speakers who will explore aspects of the broader topics.

Kicking off the day's speakers will be Edward Wolf, Cornell professor emeritus of electrical and computer engineering and CNF director from 1987 to 1993; Lawrence Goldberg, senior engineering adviser of electrical and communications systems for the National Science Foundation; and Malliaras, CNF's director since July 2006.

The day will wrap with research poster presentations and a reception in the Duffield Hall atrium, 5:30-7 p.m., with a poster awards ceremony directly following.

CNF, a national user facility, is one of several NSF-funded research facilities on the Cornell campus. It is part of the 13-member National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network, whose current director, Sandip Tiwari, previously was CNF director. CNF has about 700 users a year, about half from outside Cornell. CNF offices are housed in Duffield Hall, which opened in 2004 as the flagship nanotechnology building on campus and features a state-of-the-art clean room for research and fabrication.

For more information on the anniversary event or to register, visit http://www.cnf.cornell.edu/cnf_nanofutures.html.