The miniaturization of electronic devices has revolutionized the technology of today, but the miniaturization of mechanical devices promises to revolutionize the technology of the future. Recent progress in MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) has already begun this revolution by miniaturizing a wide range of mechanical sensors/actuators and integrating them onto silicon chips. The size of state-of-the-art MEMS devices, however, still measures in the microns significantly larger than the constituent atoms and molecules that make up matter. Yet, there is no fundamental reason why machines and motors cannot be scaled down to the nanometer size of individual molecules. Such nano-electro-mechanical devices and systems (NEMS) would provide completely new methods for manipulating matter and for interfacing with biological systems. Biological macromolecules, on the other hand, can also be thought of as nanomechanical objects they have structure, mass, and stiffness. Their interactions with other molecules are mechanical in nature - they involve forces and motion. These forces have various origins: electrostatic, steric, hydrogen bonding, van der Waals, and entropic. In essence, nanomechanics is the universal language for biomolecular interactions and behavior. Mechanical devices that can measure forces (picoNewton to nanoNewton) and motion (nanometers) at levels relevant for biomolecules and thereby interpret their universal language, provide insight into biomolecular behavior and interactions that other approaches cannot provide. One of the goals of this center is to develop these nanomechanical tools to understand biomolecular interactions. True nano-mechanical miniaturization would inspire and realize truly revolutionary applications involving molecular transport, replication, and energy conversion, with substantial impact on important technologies such as chemical/biological sensing, computation, communication and power generation.