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Gaming the Future: The Book!

Category: Media Mentions

UW, PNNL form academic/government partnership for NT research

from the Go,-Huskies! dept.
In an agreement signed 19 April 2001, the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington announced they have formed the Joint Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. The new institute is described in a UW press release. Additional details are available in an article from the Tri-City Herald.

The UW, home to the Center for Nanotechnology Research, of has established a strong presence in nanotechnology. Last summer, it became the first university in the nation to launch a doctoral degree program in the field. PNNL is located on what used to be known as the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in eastern Washington state. Both UW and PNNL will contribute $500,000 in the first year for administering the joint institute and setting up new programs.

"Together, we can leverage our research capabilities to assemble a stronger scientific team than either of us would have individually," said Bill Rogers, associate laboratory director of PNNL's Fundamental Science Division and director of its Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Initiative. "Nanoscience is an area that requires teams of scientists from various disciplines to work together to solve problems. PNNL excels at multidisciplinary research, and we're taking that teaming approach one step further by signing this agreement."

Ray Kurzweil receives Lemelson-MIT Prize

from the invention-and-innovation dept.
The Lemelson-MIT Program announced on 24 April 2001 that its annual $500,000 prize — world's largest single award for invention and innovation — is being presented to futurist Raymond Kurzweil According to the award citation, Kurzweil is being honored as "a pioneer of pattern recognition technologies who has made a career of helping others, while showing a flair for integrating technology and the arts. Over the past 35 years, Kurzweil has produced a lengthy list of achievements and innovations that have enriched society, including: advancing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies; founding, developing and selling four successful companies; and writing two best-selling books that support his predictions for the 21st century." His controversial views on the future notwithstanding, Kurzweil is being recognized by the Lemelson-MIT Program for the breadth and scope of his inventive work, and for his commitment to enhancing the quality of life for people with disabilities through technology.

It is also notable that this year's Lemelson-MIT Student Prize goes Brian Hubert, a Ph.D. candidate who has already done significant work in the field of nanotechnology. Hubert plans to finish his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, with a concentration in nano-assembly techniques. He earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Mechanical Engineering from MIT.

Small Times launches micro-, nano-oriented website

from the nano-trade-press dept.
Stuart Scott brings our attention to smalltimes.com, a new web site "devoted entirely to the fast-growing industry that includes MEMS, microsystems and nanotechnologies."

The new site is produced by Small Times Media, a company "devoted entirely to the fast-growing industry that includes MEMS, microsystems and nanotechnologies. As these remarkable technologies move from laboratories to the marketplace, Small Times Media will offer full news coverage and industry-related trade events." The publishers say coverage on the site will include such areas as analysis of business developments; breaking news in life sciences, consumer goods, environmental, defense, telecommunications and transportation applications; a small tech stock index; and an industry calendar of events such as conferences and trade shows.

According to a notice on the web site, the firm will also launch Small Times Magazine in September 2001. The magazine will cover applications and technical breakthroughs, offer stories and profiles on industry leaders and pioneers, innovations and resources shared between academia, investors, government and industry. It will also spotlight key issues in the industryís development and market intelligence.

Engineering Times sees big future for nanotechnology

from the the-vision-thing dept.
The April 2001 issue of Engineering Times, the monthly magazine of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) features a cover story on nanotechnology ("Science of the Small Has Big Engineering Future", by Rachel Davis). The article ranges over a variety of research from self-assembly and smart materials, to bio-motors and photonics, even medical applications. Itís another indication of the rapidly increasing level of interest in nanotechnology from the engineering community.

Two choice excerpts:
"As engineers broach the "science of the small" and explore nanotechnology, a new world of engineering possibilities is beginning to open up. In addition, recent breakthroughs in many areas-such as materials science, nanoelectronics, microfluidics, proteomics, photonics, and bioinformatics-are spurring changes in the content of engineering courses at universities. In this atmosphere of change, many engineers believe that new disciplines of engineering will emerge or existing disciplines will change to adapt to new fields."
And: "Researchers say the future will also require "Renaissance engineers" who have the communications skills and broad educational background that allow them to work with other professionals who may speak very different technical languages, coming from fields such as biology, physics, chemistry, and materials science."

Will Albany, New York become "Nanotech Valley"?

from the new-york,-new-york! dept.
In addition to the major funding partnership with IBM announced on 23 April 2001, the University of Albany in New York state is moving forward with additional programs to establish itself as a major nanotechnology research and development center. The University of Albany is establishing a School of Nanosciences and Materials to prepare students for high-tech jobs in nanotechnology. The school will offer cross-disciplinary doctoral and master's degree programs. According to a report in the Capital District Business Review from 16 April 2001, Alain Kaloyeros, executive director of the university's Institute for Materials who will be the new school's founding dean, said in a prepared statement that nanotechnology "combines the basic principals of chemistry, physics, biology and engineering to develop the knowledge for controlling and manipulating individual atoms to yield materials, devices and systems."
A more extensive report appeared in the Albany Times Union on 14 April 2001

An article by Kaloyeros in the March 2001 issue of Semiconductor Magazine ("Big Plans for the Tiny World Of NanoTechnology: University, industry and government cooperate in new technology model") provides an in-depth look at the partnership between academia, industry and government that is creating a major nanotechnology research and development center in New York.

IBM announces array of nanotube transistors

from the molectronics dept.
According to an IBM press release, Philip G. Collins, Michael S. Arnold and Phaedon Avouris at the I.B.M. laboratory in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. have built the world's first array of transistors out of carbon nanotubes. The work is reported in the 27 April 2001 issue of Science. The breakthrough is a new batch process for forming large numbers of nanotube transistors. Until now, nanotubes had to be positioned one at a time or by random chance — which while fine for scientific experiments is impossibly slow and tedious for mass production. The IBM press site contains links to graphics that show how the process works.

In the same report, the IBM scientists show how electrical breakdown can be used to remove individual carbon shells of a multi-walled nanotube one-by-one, allowing the scientists to fabricate carbon nanotubes with the precise electrical properties desired. The report also shows how the scientists fabricate field-effect transistors from carbon nanotubes with any variable band-gap desired.

Read more for links to the Science article and press coverage.

JPL jumps on the nanotechnology bandwagon

from the e-beam-me-up,-scotty dept.
The entry of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a NASA facility managed by CalTech, into the nanotechnology research and development arena has garnered some news:
Patrick Underwood pointed out this article in the online version Aviation Week and Space Technology on nanotechnology-related work at JPLís new Center for Space Microelectronics Technology (CMST).
Also, Saturngraphix found this JPL press release that provides some details of the work being conducted there.
You can also visit the JPL Center for Space Microelectronics Technology (CMST) website.

IBM will invest $100 million in NY Nanoelectronics Center

from the coast-to-coast dept.
According to an Associated Press report in the New York Times, IBM will invest more than $100 million to help create a state Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics at the State University of New York's Albany campus, (Note: Access to the NY Times site is free, but requires registration.)

New York Gov. George Pataki and company officials announced the contribution on 23 April 2001. Pataki said the state would contribute $50 million for the center, which is expected to initially employ 100 technicians and 400 scientists. The center will create the only university-based, 300-millimeter computer wafer prototype facility in the world, and provide laboratory and clean room space for researchers, incubator space for high-tech company spinoff ventures and a work force development program, officials said. IBM has announced plans to build a $2.5 billion computer chip fabrication plant in East Fishkill, located south of Albany.

Read more for additional information on the New York program, and similar efforts in California.

Kurzweil discusses singularity in Wired

from the trend-analysis dept.
A short profile in Wired Magazine ("Kurzweil's Law," by P. Boutin) covers Ray Kurzweilís analysis of long-term technological trends. According to the article, "He'll lay out his conclusions next year in a much-anticipated book called The Singularity Is Near, in which (surprise) he'll argue that technology's increasingly rapid pace of change is fundamentally transformative, unstoppable, economically powerful, and cool. It's not just our optical networks that are getting better; according to Kurzweil, the capacity of human consciousness itself is expanding exponentially."

Kurzweilís analyses of these trends "aggregate progress into one big, constantly accelerating curve that flies off the charts at the point where its rate of change becomes infinite – mathematically speaking, a singularity. . . . In lay terms, the future beyond the singularity is completely unpredictable from today's vantage point."

You can find out more on Kurzweilís new web site, www.kurzweilai.net, which was recently covered here.

HP Labs receives molectronics patent

from the thanks-for-the-(molecular)-memory dept.
An article in the May 2001 issue of Technology Review Magazine details a patent for a molecular electronics device granted to the well-known team from HP Laboratories: Philip Kuekes, R. Stanley Williams and UCLA chemist James Heath ("Molecular Memory," by D. Rotman). According to the article, the HP research group received an initial patent on a molecular memory device in October 2000; and "a series of related patents covering everything from molecular logic to how to chemically assemble these devices is pending." You can view the patent (U.S. Patent 6,128,214) online.

Coverage of the work by the HP Labs research team has appeared in Foresight Update 42.

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