In the early 2000s Dr. W.A. de Heer, professor of physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology, was investigating the tight model of carbon atoms that describes nanotubes. This was done in a desktop computer with mathematical software for solving the eigenvalue problem.

Those investigations eventually led to his realization that nanopatterned graphene could be a novel way to construct electronic devices and he initiated a research program in that direction.

Observing that thinking process from a close distance created a great impression in me. I wanted to make those programs accessible to more people because we believe they teach us rich physics and are tractable problems for students of mathematics and physics.