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Gaming the Future: The Book!

Month: December 2001

Companies compete in mass production of nanotubes

KPalmquist writes "Small Times reports today on the global pursuit of carbon nanotube mass-production. The interesting thing is that in this situation it's not necessarily a race of who can produce the most at the least expense; the diversity of nanotube types and quality are also key factors."

NIST to emphasize biomolecular probes, molectronics

An article on the Small Times website ("U.S. government to push nanopores, molecular electronics in next decade", by D. Brown, 13 December 2001) describes two areas of nanotechnology research that will be emphasized by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in it programs:
The Single Molecule Manipulation and Measurement program, launched in late October, will develop new measurement methods using nanopores to probe the structure, function and dynamics of single biomolecules such as DNA and RNA.
The other effort is a new competence-building project in molecular electronics, which uses molecules to perform the function of electronic components. The science is rapidly developing, but it is largely without standards and measurements. The program project will focus on small-ensemble conduction experiments, test structure assessment, electronic structure characterization and conduction modeling in the near term. It will work with several noted university researchers at Yale University, Penn State University and Rice University, the Hewlett-Packard Research Labs and the Naval Research Laboratory.

UK Venture Capitalists ponder nanotech

Commercial opportunities are being trumpeted by FirstStage Capital, a venture capital firm in the United Kingdom. The firm recently issued a brief overview (Nanotechnology Today-Reality or Hype?) of these opportunities as a prelude to an investment-oriented seminar the company hosted on 5 December 2001. According at a press release (5 December 2001), over 130 venture capitalists and academics attended. According to the release, "The panel of leading academics and venture capitalists agreed that while the quality of technology in Europe and the US is similar, the opportunities in Europe tend to be much closer to commercialisation than in the US, and hence more attractive in todayís environment from a venture capital investment perspective. Europe is particularly strong in materials, tooling and precision engineering, all pre-requisites for successful exploitation of nanotechnology."

Additional coverage of the seminar, as well as a more extensive presentation of the views of investors and researchers in the U.K., is available in an article on the Small Times website ("U.K. tries to strick balance between the science and business of nanotech", by Guy Paisner, 7 December 2001). The article sounds a more cautions note: "As nanotechnology prepares to leave the laboratory and enter the marketplace, investors are circling around Great Britain's academic centers. But unlike the United States, the United Kingdom is not renowned for its ability to mix academia with business, and a degree of confusion exists over how nanotechnology research should be funded. . . . In the United Kingdom, government funding allows for long-term research that is largely untainted by a commercial agenda. But venture capital is desperately needed to unlock the commercial potential from the ivory towers of academia."

Nanotech in Massachusetts

from the World-Watch dept.
A pair of items that provide some coverage of nanotech-related developments in Boston and elsewhere in Massachusetts:
An article from the Boston Business Journal ("The next big thing? More local biotechs adopt atomic-level product development", by Allison Connolly, 23 November 2001) discusses bionanotechnology research and development by several firms in the Boston area.
An item on the Multex Investor Marketguide.com website ("Ready for nanotechnology?", by Carla Drysdale 10 December 2001) has a brief general introduction, but focuses primarily on profiling Woburn, Mass.-based Nantero, a firm which is attempting to develop non-volatile random access memory (NRAM) products based on carbon nanotubes.

Stanford researcher launches commercial venture

According to a company press release (11 December 2001), Stanford University researcher Dr. Hongjie Dai, along with a number of partners, has formed a new company called Molecular Nanosystems to commercialize applications of carbon nanotube technology. According to the release, the firm has received initial funding and produced its first batch of nanotubes in its fully functional lab. The initial funding will be used for research and development, laboratory expansion and initial start-up costs. More information can be found on the Molecular Nanosystems website.

Looking for Near-Term Commercial Uses for Book

dshafer writes "I've been contracted by Wiley to write a book called "Nanotech, Megaquake" which will focus on the business and commercial side of the technology. Specific current, near-term and mid-range applications. How business managers in medium-sized and large corporations should be viewing this technology today, what they need to be doing to be prepared to take advantage of the opportunities and challenges, etc.

I'm soliciting input. If you have any of the following, please email me with details or contact info. The book manuscript is due mid-February and the book will be published in the late summer time frame.

Thanks very much.

Dan Shafer
Sr.Associate"

Newt Gingrich Joins NanoBusiness Alliance

KPalmquist writes "Newt Gingrich announced today that he will be honorary chair of the NanoBusiness Alliance. F. Mark Modzelewski, head of the Alliance, says: "Newt Gingrich has long been the strongest voice in nanotechnology among America's policy and governmental leaders. The emerging nanotechnology sector has gained a brilliant and tested leader.""

C&EN magazine highlights nanotech, molectronics

In its annual review of the yearís highlights in the field of chemistry, the 10 December 2001 issue of Chemical & Engineering News, a publication of the American Chemical Society, includes an extensive article describing a broad range of advances in nanotechnology and molecular electronics that have occurred in the last year.

Nanotech activity in Texas

Interesting news continues to come out of Texas, one of several states emerging as a center of nanotech-related research and development activity. An article in the Houston Business Journal (30 November 2001) notes the announced move of the Toronto-based firm of C Sixty to Houston, in part lured by $4 million in venture funding for its efforts to develop applications for fullernes (buckyballs). The article also notes other recent events such as the $10.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to create a Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology at Rice University, and development of Houston-based firms Carbon Nanotechnologies (the venture by Richard Smalley and partners to commercialize carbon nanotubes) and Molecular Electronics Corp., co-founded by molectronics pioneers Jim Tour, Mark Reed, and their partners. The article quotes James Calaway, a C Sixty board member, and president and CEO of Center for Houston's Future: "We're developing a sophisticated group of early-stage nano investors," Calaway says. "Houston is really becoming a hotbed for this area . . . "We're building a nano-cluster here. That's the most important thing. We're building the commercial aspects early enough that we can become a leading nano-cluster in the world."
Perhaps the cooperative agreement between the UT Dallas and Canadian nanotech centers announced in December 2001 was meant as compensation for drawing C Sixty away from Toronto?
Another article in the Ft. Worth Business Journal ("Big Things come in small packages", by G. Bennison, 6 December 2001) makes a few general comments about the developing Texas nanotech boom, but focuses primarily on the Center for Nanostructure Materials and Quantum Device Fabrication (NanoFab) at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Nanotech VC forum in Israel

from the World-Watch dept.
An article on the Jerusalem Post Digital Israel website ("VC funds begin to explore nanotechnology field", by Tania Hershman) provides a bit of coverage of a one-day forum on nanotechnology held in Tel Aviv on 10 December 2001. Additional coverage appeared on the SmallTimes website ("Israelís big science, VC are just waking up to nanotech", article by Avi Machlis). According to the articles over 200 investors, entrepreneurs and scientists attended the forum, which was sponsored by Tel Aviv University, Deloitte & Touche Brightman Almagor and Neurone, and Millennium Materials and Technologies VC funds, and included presentations on Israeli and worldwide activities in the field.
In an interesting sidelight, another SmallTimes article said a representative of the German banking group Deutsche Bank announced during the forum that the firm has launched an international survey of nanotechnology companies aimed at discovering the factors likely to lead to commercial success for small tech. Jurgen Ilgner, director of the Microtechnology Innovation Team at Deutsche Bank, said the new study, launched in September, is surveying 400 nanotechnology companies across the globe and taking an in-depth look at their development.

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