from the Miniaturizing-manufacturing dept.
An extensive article in Dallas-Ft. Worth TechBiz ("National grant may help speed up Zyvexís plans", by Pavan Lall, 22 October 2001) provides an in-depth look at how Zyvex and its collaborators will benefit from a $US 25 million cost-sharing program that includes a $12.5 million grant from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
More information on the NIST grant and development program is available in this Zyvex press release from 12 October 2001. Additional coverage also appeared in the Albany, N.Y. Times-Union ("Tiny robots, tremendous potential", by K. Aaron, 25 October 2001).
Along with university collaborators at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Center for Automation Technologies in Troy, N.Y., the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of North Texas, Zyvex will develop prototypical microscale assemblers using microelectromechanical systems, or MEMS, to assemble nanoscale components. The long-term goal is to develop even smaller nanoscale assembler systems. "Our ultimate goal is adaptable, affordable, molecularly precise manufacturing,'' said Rocky Angelucci, Zyvex's technical liaison and manager of the company's NIST program.
