The Center for Nano-enabled Device and Energy Technologies (CNXT) harnesses diverse nanometer-scale science and engineering work at Carnegie Mellon to bring focus and purpose to a few contemporary problems whose solutions might be found in appropriate nanotechnologies. The Center draws heavily on expertise from departments across the colleges of engineering and science. It pursues basic research in science and engineering activities at the nanometer-scale. The overarching goal of these activities is to enable the design of innovative systems. The unifying theme of the Center is nanometer-scale materials that are deliberately synthesized, self-assembled, assisted to self-assemble, or structured by engineering know-how to create novel properties, processes, or principles. It is the new properties or principles that are taken advantage of in the design and engineering of innovative (i) devices, (ii) arrays of devices, and (iii) ultimately systems. The Center’s current approach to creating unique materials is two-fold. The first approach relies on solid-state synthesis and structuring to produce nanostructures with new physics or chemistry that lead to novel devices. The second approach is based on chemistry, where chemical synthesis creates unique molecules that are used to make novel materials. These, in turn, are then used to produce structures with novel function or utility.