The Rensselaer Nanotechnology Conference concluded its third successful Conference in the Heffner Alumni House Tuesday. This two-day event had a record number of sponsors and attendees. The conference gathered the leading business leaders, scientists, engineers, government officials, and thinkers. A variety of fields, including research and regulatory issues, were discussed.
This year’s conference focused on “bringing attendees up to speed on the current state of knowledge in this vitally important area,” said Professor Raj Bawa, conference chair and president of Bawa Technology Consulting, L.L.C. in Arlington, Va., which focuses on patent law in the areas of nanotechnology, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical science.
“It encompasses technology, commercialization, venture, nanobusiness and intellectual property issues, and regulatory and environmental policy,” said Bawa. He said it makes sense for RPI to host this type of conference; in particular, this is beneficial to Rensselaer’s $180 million Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies which opened in 2004.
Some of the highlights of the conference included Ivar Giaever ’64, a Nobel laureate in physics who lectured and endorsed the nanosciences as an emerging and promising field. In addition, President of TechVision 21 and former secretary of Commerce for Technology Policy at the U.S. Department of Commerce Kelly H. Carnes spoke about the governmental involvement in the nanotechnology field.
Currently, the global nanotechnology market accounts for about $1 trillion in annual revenue for companies. In 2001, the U.S. launched its National Nanotechnology Initiative, which provided for about $422 million in that year alone, and increasing to about $2.3 billion in 2006—totaling about $6.7 billion in funding of 11 government agencies that circulate these funds. The 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act provided for a steady source of income totaling about $4.3 billion for 4 years to different institutions and companies.
While the current administration has been satisfactory with funding initiatives, the regulatory efforts have been lacking greatly. President Bush recently was quoted as saying, “The current regulatory laws are sufficient and should be applied to nanoparticles.” David P. Flynn, a partner at Environment and Energy Group Phillips Lyttle LLP, thoroughly described the current regulations and commissions that would govern new particles developed by nanotech companies.
To offset the contamination by nanoparticles, John K. Porter, professor emeritus of Clemson University’s schools of science and engineering, presented his studies on fine membrane research.
The current research has been heavily based on interdisciplinary teams applying research in the pharmaceutical industry as well as in brain surgery, cancer, nanotubes, biodefense and military defense. Bawa concluded by saying, “The hype around nanotechnology hopefully can be used to spur an interest in the youth to be more interested in the sciences and current technology.”
