Nanotechnology: Real-World Applications Today

There's nothing small about nanotechnology when it conies to market potential. The engineering of new materials and machines at the molecular scale is projected to create a $25 billion industry by 2006, and could top $1 trillion in the next decade*.

To help you keep pace with this rapidly-evolving field, NASA Tech Briefs is hosting the Nano 2004 Conference (www.techbriefs.com/nano), November 11-12 at the Wyndham Inner Harbor hotel, Baltimore, MD. This event will focus on business opportunities now - and provide a roadmap to tomorrow - in five key application areas: Aerospace/Defense, Bio-Medicine, Electronics, Power & Energy, and Environmental/Safety.

Among the highlights: a Day One plenary session entitled "Commercialization - Real-World Uses & Markets Today." Moderated by Christopher Foster, Deputy secretary of Maryland's Department of Business and Economic Development, the panel session will include Matt Bigge, Director of Corporate Development for Nanosys; Dr. Krishna Doraiswamy, Corporate R&D PlanningManager for DuPont; Dr. Martin Woodle, Chief Scientific Officer of Intradigm Corp.; and Dr. Hubert Kostal, Vice President of NanoOpto Corp.

The panelists share a common belief: nanotechnology will have a huge impact on our lives. Stated Foster: "Nanotechnology clearly has the ability to blur the lines between science and nature, between human and artificial, and between imagination and reality."

The invention of the scanning tunneling microscope allowed researchers for the first time to see single atoms on a surface. When they were able to work with and control these atoms and molecules, the nanotech revolution took off. Explained Doraiswamy: "By understanding how materials behave at these length scales, and by learning how to make, control, and organize them, we can offer new degrees of freedom in designing and delivering innovative products."

Bigge added, "Nanotechnology offers the opportunity to manipulate the electrical, magnetic, and other material properties in a way that has never been done before. This capability is analogous, though larger, than the changes seen with the advent of plastics."

To be competitive with other means of solving the same problem, nanotechnology must offer a unique advantage. "The commercialization of nanotechnologyenabled products will become widespread when the cost of the product plus switching costs is exceeded by the decreased price, improved performance, and increased functionality relative to traditional solutions," said Bigge.

The transition from lab to market is already under way, according to David Reisner, moderator for the nanomaterials session and President & CEO of Inframat® Corp. "The suppliers of picks and shovels, i.e. analytical devices, as well as materials providers, are rapidly introducing product that has been proven in the marketplace," he said. (See sidebar, p.22.) "These are real products that are priced competitively with the incumbent technologies they are displacing."

Reisner believes that "emerging nanotech companies must demonstrate functional advanced technology with a defensible IP (intellectual property) position, solid market pull, and economic viability. There are many such companies with sound fundamentals ready to enter the marketplace, particularly in the materials sector."

Kostal added that "investment should focus on companies that use nanotechnology to change markets. This means that nanotechnology enterprises will be valued as part -of existing industry groups, instead of as a new, unreferenced segment."

Bigge compares nanotech to where biotech was 25 years ago. "Both fields as an investment are risky, but also offer tremendous potential returns if you choose the right company. If you find something of value at an appropriate price and the potential for increasing levels of performance, it will probably outperform the general market. That has been borne out with the successful companies in every industry over time."

To view the Nano 2004 agenda and register, visit www.techbriefs.com/nano. Please note that this this event is expected to sell out; early registration is recommended.

* Sources: the NanoBusiness Alliance and the National Science Foundation