Professor David Tomanek studied Physics in Switzerland and received his Ph.D. from the Free University in Berlin. While holding a position as Assistant Professor of Physics, he pioneered theoretical research in Nanostructures at the AT&T Bell Laboratories and the University of California at Berkeley. He established the field of Computational Nanotechnology at Michigan State University, where he holds a position as Full Professor of Physics. His scientific expertise lies in the development and application of numerical techniques for structural, electronic and optical properties of surfaces, low-dimensional systems and nanostructures.

Professor Tomanek has been promoting Nanoscience and Nanotechnology with dedication throughout his life. His scientific carrier took off at the University of Basel in Switzerland; it continued at the Free University and the Fritz-Haber Institute of the Max-Planck Society in Berlin, Germany, where he pioneered the use of computer simulations to understand atomic-level processes at surfaces and in atomic clusters. Witnessed in several hundred publications and invited talks are his results on the electronic structure, mechanical, thermal, and optical properties, as well as quantum conductance of nanostructures. His pioneering results in Computational Nanotechnology, in particular in the field of fullerenes and nanotubes, have been rewarded by a Fellowship of the American Physical Society, the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation Distinguished Senior Scientist Award and the Japan Carbon Award for Life-Time Achievement.

Fluent in several languages, Dr. Tomanek has dedicated significant effort to strengthening international collaborations in the field of nanotechnology by organizing workshops and conferences, such as the series of International Conference on Nanotubes that annually attract almost 1000 experts to locations across the world. His strong faith in the benefits of an open exchange of scientific information is observed in The Nanotube Site, which he maintains, and the recently founded open-access Journal of Small Systems and Highlights in Nanotechnology, dedicated to nanoscience and nanotechnology.

Dr. Tomanek's belief that only an intimate collaboration between theoretical and experimental research will bring significant progress in the field is embodied in a long list of scientific collaborations and the institutions he visited as distinguished Professor of Physics, including the prestigious Seoul National University in Korea and the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan. He was VTT Professor of Physics at the Helsinki University of Technology in Finland, Research Director at the CNRS in Paris-Orsay, and Visiting Professor at the National University of Singapore, Rice University, University of Rome, University of Regensburg, NEC Japan, and others.

To accelerate and promote commercialization of nanotechnology, Dr. Tomanek initiated nanoTEN, a Tokyo-based nanotechnology consulting company, chairs the Board of Director of Rosseter Holdings Ltd. in Limassol, Cyprus, and member of the Board of Directors of Nanosensors Inc. He holds several patents in the fields of nanotechnology and bio-nanotechnology, heads the Theory Team of the recently established multimillion dollar Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC) for High-Rate Nanomanufacturing, supported by NSF, and the Computational Nanotechnology Team in Tokyo, Japan, associated with the Earth Simulator Supercomputer.