Month: February 2005

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The first U.S. Nanosystems Engineering degree program has been announced, and not perhaps where one would expect it: "The Louisiana Board of Regents granted final approval Thursday for Louisiana Tech to offer the nanosystems engineering degree program, the first such program in the nation." It sounds as though the mechanical engineers had a hand in this, which is encouraging.
But as an MIT alum, where nanosystems work first started back in the late '70s, I am disappointed that the Institute of Technology doing this starts with an L instead of an M. Must the future of nanotech be in Ruston instead of Cambridge?

Readers interested in how nanomedicine and related products will be regulated may want to explore the new US Food and Drug Administration nanotechnology website, which includes "FDA Regulation of Nanotechnology Products" and six Powerpoint presentations (also posted as html). They've borrowed their nanotech definition from NSF's, which requires a length scale of 1-100 nanometers, and at the same time, controlling or manipulating on the "atomic" scale. Which is it: up to 100 nm, or atomic? This NSF definition has never made sense to me. (The agencies' actual behavior seems to use the 1-100 nm version.)–CP

Deloitte, a leading consultancy, has released TMT Trends: Predictions 2005 (overview or full pdf): "The capacity to manufacture economically products, components and materials on an atom-by-atom basis will lift many industries to the next level–with nanotechnology quickly becoming synonymous with superior products…Nothing, it seems, will escape the influence of nanotechnology."

For the techies: If you could use some orientation on how energy can be supplied to molecular nanosystems, see this plenary lecture presented at the International Conference on Physical Organic Chemistry, titled Light-powered molecular-scale machines, published in Pure Appl. Chem.: "The most convenient way to supply energy to a molecular machine is through photochemical energy inputs."

Roland Piquepaille writes "BusinessWeek Online is publishing today a technology special report, Inside Nanotech. Here are the contents.

• Slugfest in the Nanotech Trenches
  Competitors in this young field, fearful of being elbowed aside, are going all out to establish themselves as the leaders. With the stakes so high, it's no wonder
• High IPO Hurdles for Nanotechs
  It's not easy for them to go public these days, especially for the broader "nano-platform" companies. Their time may be coming, however
• The Worries over Nano No-Nos
  Could the same properties that make the tiny particles so effective also turn them into efficient troublemakers inside the human body?
• Oklahoma: Nanotech Hotbed?
  Yep, along with Cleveland, Albany, and other areas way off tech's beaten coastal paths. This time, the geographic field is wide open
• A Nanotech Pioneer's Sober Assessment
  Goundbreaking researcher Stan Williams of HP says it's clear that "the 'knee' in the curve is still another five or more years away"

Ed. Note… The pages will load faster if you disable Javascript…

If you haven't already run across AZoNano, give the site a look. A collaboration of AZoM in Australia and IoN in Scotland, the site aims "to become the primary Nanotechnology information source for the science, engineering and design community worldwide." That's an ambitious goal, but in any case, it's a useful site and completely free of charge.

The Feb. 22 New York Times has an article by Kenneth Chang giving an overview of nanoparticle progress: "Shrinking some medicines to nanoparticle size could improve effectiveness… Greater surface area also makes nanoparticles well suited for certain types of environmental cleanup…But nanoparticles may have potential dangers that are still not well understood."

Adam Keiper brings our attention to this story by Neil Munro in National Journal, a highly influential DC publication, about the recent National Academy meeting looking at molecular manufacturing: "In response, the nanotechnologists have essentially split into two camps: One faction wants to preserve federal support for such research by downplaying the technology by calling it evolutionary; the other embraces nanotechnology as revolutionary and urges a full-scale advocacy campaign to sell the public on the beneficial possibilities of the technology…This would involve developing machines that, at the molecular level, would make other machines. These machines are not in the immediate offing — although nanotechnologists agree this is the goal of nanotechnology — but such machines do offer the prospect of building a wide range of objects inexpensively and with atomic precision." Thanks, Adam!

The February 2005 issue of NanoNews Now focuses on molecular nanotechnology, including interviews with Scott Mize of Foresight, Mike Treder and Chris Phoenix of CRN, and Doug Parr of Greenpeace — see excerpts on their homepage. Also includes Foresight Senior Associate Pearl Chin's column on nanotech investing. Single issues are $19.95, but you can view the current issue at no charge by signing up for their free email newsletter, NanoNews Digest (click on "Your Account" on the thank you page to set up an account). Or, get a 90-day free trial by subscribing to NanoNews Now itself.