Racing towards nanotechnology in the Midwest

from the linking-small-things-longing-for-big-bucks dept.
Gina Miller writes " Racing toward a nanotechnology industry, by Jon Van of the Chicago Tribune, posted on the SiliconValley.com web site, reports the building of a new nanotechnology center at Purdue University in Indiana aimed at linking scientists and entrepreneurs. Purdue researcher Hicham Fenniri is quoted on the expected role of the Birck Nanotechnology Center (see Nanodot Sept. 10, 2001) in facilitating advances in designing and characterizing new materials. Also quoted is Chad Mirkin of Northwestern University Institute for Nanotechnology in neighboring Illinois on the importance of getting a quick start in the emerging nanotechnology industry. Both Fenniri and Mirkin have used DNA or DNA-like molecules to assemble nanoscale structures, but the article perhaps implies too much when it states that Purdue researchers 'have found a way to coax molecules to grow into microelectronic circuit elements.' The nanostructures reported so far might provide a basis for simple components, but the way to link these together to make useful circuits is still unclear. Later the article quotes Mirkin's opinion that progress will be slow because of the problem of getting millions or billions of tiny devices to self-assemble and wire up with one another. Hicham Fenniri's work on self-assembly of molecular building blocks was reported on Nanodot on March 19, 2002 and April 17, 2001 "