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Gaming the Future: The Book!

Category: Nanodot

A recent nanotechnology seminar in Iran

A.M. Soltaani submitted this brief summary of a recent nanotech seminar in Iran: "Iran centre for industrial research and development affiliated to Industrial development and renovation organization in Iran, and Nanotechnology Policy Studies Committee affiliated to Presidential Technology Cooperation office have [held] a seminar on nanotechnology opportunities for Iranian industry in Teheran on Tuesday. Please see for more: http://www.tco.gov.ir/nano/English/events/Idro.htm"

[Editor's note: This item was submitted on Wednesday, 21 November 2001, so "Tuesday" presumably refers to 20 November, or perhaps 13 November 2001; no date is given on the linked web page. See also the recent post on nanotech in Iran.]

Chinese Nanotech Funding Comparable to U.S.

RobertBradbury writes "Nature is reporting here that the Chinese Academy of Sciences has prompted the government into funding the construction of a new National Nanoscience Center in Beijing. The center is estimated to cost 250-500 million renminbi (yaun) (~8.3 renminbi/$). The overall Chinese funding for nanoscience is 2.5 billion renminbi for the next 5 years ($60 million/yr). If one considers the according to the CIA World Fact Book, the Chinese GDP per person is an order of magnitude less than that of the U.S. and according to this article, salries for skilled scientific workers range from $120-360/month (academic) to $960/month (commercial), that would suggest that labor costs in China are approximately an order of magnitude below those in the U.S. So the Chinese nanotechnology research effort may well be comparable in terms of the number of researchers funded to the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative!"

Biotechnology research and bioterrorism

RobertBradbury writes "This week Nature is highlighting the problem of public knowledge and data access and bioterrorism in "The end of innocence?". George Poste, chair of the U.S. Dept. of Defense task force on bioterrorism, goes so far in "Biologists urged to address risk of data aiding bioweapon design" as to suggest access to biological data should be regulated and the publication of manuscripts associated with "risky" projects might be denied. This isn't a new discussion, Nature pointed out on May 17, in "A call to arms" the problem of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies resisting the inspections that would put some teeth into the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention treaty. The firms fear inspections because of the potential theft of commercial secrets while the proponents object that the 2 week advance notice would allow too much time to hide any covert activities.

Some biologists, such as Claire Fraser, the Director of TIGR, realize the problem is serious and in an October Nature Genetics article, Genomics and future biological weapons: the need for preventive action by the biomedical community, concluded, "In short, the biomedical community must play its proper part in the generation of a true web of deterrence that will render biological warfare or terrorism an obviously futile as well as a morally unacceptable act".

The threat of bioterrorism is here now (see this CNN Report), long before we have to worry about nanoterrorism. Is secrecy the answer? Can inspections work? What about countries that fail to sign the treaties? Or is our only hope to develop robust defenses (vaccines, anti-toxins, rapid response capabilities, etc.) that would allow us to keep one step ahead in the bioterrorist arms race?"

Nanotech investment report from UK

from the advice-on-your-money dept.
Evolution Capital Ltd, a "technology-focussed investment bank based in London", has published a 28-page Executive Summary of their 300-page report "Nanotechnology: Commercial Opportunity" to be published in full later this month (Nov. 2001). Excerpts: "Nanotechnology, unlike other enabling technologies, has the potential to impact on all industrial sectors…The promise of quantum computing, nanoelectronics, bottom-up Nanofabrication and Nano Electro Mechanical Systems (NEMS) may become commercial realities within 20 years." Nothing on their website about the report that I could find.

TNI announces venture-oriented conference

According to a press release (14 November 2001), the partners in the Texas Nanotechnology Initiative (TNI) will host a conference on "NanoVentures 2002: the path to the commercialization of nanotechnology" from 6 to 8 March 2002. The conference will provide two full days of speakers and panels focusing on the current state of nanotechnology and related opportunities for investment.

TNI and its co-hosts, Austin Ventures, STARTech Foundation, and Vortex Partners, and conference partners Jackson Walker, L.L.P. and Zyvex Corporation will present sessions on the areas of Molecular Electronics, Materials, Optical/Wireless, NanoStorage, Biotech, and Fabrication and Assembly. In addition to members of the venture finance community, participants will include technology companies, lawyers, and government and university representatives specializing in nanotechnology ventures. The conference will also introduce attendees to a network of service providers and investors who are currently working in nanotechnology.

Iran Nanotechnology Conference

A. Soltani writes of an upcoming "The Nanotechnology conference, the outlook of industrial revolution will be held in March 2002 in Tehran, Iran. You can see more at: http://www.tco.gov.ir/nano/English/events/Conference.htm"

Editor's Note: Be sure to visit the web site of the Iranian government's Nanotechnology Policy Studies Committee. The site offers an extensive amount of material in English (much of which appears to have been . . . er, "borrowed" from other sites on the web.)

White paper previews Nanotech Opportunity Report

from the Discount-for-Senior-Associates dept.
CMP Cientifica (based in Spain) and nABUCUS (based in Hong Kong), two nanotechnology-oriented consulting and investment firms, along with the U.S. public relations firm of Niehaus Ryan Wong, have teamed up to prepare the Nanotechnology Opportunities Report (NOR), which is due to be released some time early next year. They have released a free preliminary white paper that aims to "give a comprehensive introduction to the wide variety of technologies that fall under the nanotech umbrella, and to present this in a manner that gives a sense of the areas of our world, and thus the markets, that will be impacted, and when."

As with most of these ìinvestment opportunityî reports, none of the material in the NOR preview white paper is particularly new or unique. However it does provide a succinct basic explanation of the developing excitement in the field for newcomers, and has a more international viewpoint than some of the reports issued by U.S.-based firms. The paper is available as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file (about 1.4 MB) at the website of any of the three firms:

The NOR white paper follows in the wake of a number of similar reports that were released in August and September 2001 (reported here on 3 August, 30 August, and 9 October 2001). The full Nanotechnology Opportunity Report will be available for purchase in January 2002 at a cost of US$1995.

UPDATE: Foresight Senior Associates, and attendees of this week's Ninth Foresight Conference, can get a discount of $200 on the pre-publication price of $1695 on advance orders for the NOR. This offer is good until 30 November 2001. These advance orders should be placed through Foresight, either online (secure web form), or through our office, to get the $200 discount. Contact information for the Foresight office.

Battle is on for U.S. soldier nanotech center

A number of universities in the U.S. are competing to become the host for a University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) for the U.S. Armyís Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN). A considerable amount of information about the intended goals of the ISN center can be found in the formal solicitation for the ISN center, released in October 2001, which is available as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file (about 155 KB). Funding for the ISN will be about $US 10 million per year, for at least five years.
According to the solicitation: "The individual soldier will. . . will require systems revolutionary in their capabilities. Recent advances in the field of nanoscience suggest that may be possible to provide the soldier with radically new capabilities in full-spectrum threat protection without incurring significant weight or volume penalties. Such soldier systems will only be realized by directing additional resources to the Army's Science and Technology Program in the emerging field of nanoscience. . . . The purpose of this research center of excellence is to develop unclassified nanometerscale science and technology solutions for the soldier. A single university will host this center, which will emphasize revolutionary materials research toward advanced soldier protection and survivability capabilities."
Responses to the solicitation are due by 15 November 2001, and competition for the center is keen. An item from the Cornell Daily Sun ("Army Research Facility May Replace Ward Lab", 25 October 2001) describes some of Cornell universityís efforts to bring the center there.

Previous coverage of the ISN program appeared here on 28 June and 13 September 2001

Ninth Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology

The Ninth Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology will be held at the Westin Hotel in Santa Clara, California from 9 -11 November 2001. The keynote speaker will be James Murday of the U.S. Naval Research Lab and Director of the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office. A special conference session on Venture Capital for Nanotechnology and a Nanotechnology Patent Roundtable will be held.

ASME 2001 conference will include nanotech track

from the More-conferences dept.
A reminder: The special nanotechnology track at the 2001 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) International Mechanical Engineering Conference (11-16 November 2001) will include a keynote panel discussion, three nanotechnology tutorials, and nine conference technical sessions devoted to various aspects of nanotechnology.

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