Experts will help put nanotechnology in perspective during ASME's 2001 Congress

Nanotechnology, a field that is rapidly evolving, will be the subject of the keynote address during ASME's International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition in November. During the keynote, a panel of experts in the field will discuss different aspects of nanotechnology.

Those experts will include Harold G. Craighead, the director of Cornell University's Nanobiotechnology Center. Craighead, a professor of applied and engineering physics, spoke with ASME NEWS about the applications of nanotechnology.

Harold G. Craighead, director of Cornell University's Nanobiotech-nology Center, will discuss nanotechnology at this year's Congress.

ASME NEWS: What area of nano-biotechnology will your talk highlight during the Congress?

Craighead: I plan to discuss nanoelectromechanical systems, including nanoscale fluid devices for molecular separation and analysis. I may also describe surface modifications for guiding cellular growth and attachment.

ASME NEWS: Is medicine an area in which nano devices will be the most useful? What areas of medicine?

Craighead: It's hard to predict what will have the most long-term impact on medicine. I would guess that some of the first applications will be on less invasive and more rapid diagnostic devices. Another possible application will be to more rapid drug discovery.

ASME NEWS: What do you see as some actual medical applications, or examples, of how these new types of nano devices might be used? Participating in the repair of sick or dying cells in people with Parkinson's disease, for example? Or others?

Craighead: I don't see nanodevices directly modifying cells for human therapy in the foreseeable future. I'm afraid this may be a concept that will remain primarily in science fiction. Devices for more effective drug delivery or gene therapy, possibly combined with sensors, would be more likely near-term devices.

ASME NEWS: How will the future areas of study for these potential applications be determined?

Craighead: NIH (U.S. National Institutes of Health) and other agencies are holding workshops and studies to determine new research funding directions and initiatives. The nature of the proposals written by researchers will also determine the directions of new work.

ASME NEWS: You've written about areas other than health that would benefit from nanobiotechnological advances, such as forensics. What other fields do you see being able to make use of such advances?

Craighead: Electronics, data storage, sensors, optical devices, displays, structural materials and other applications may benefit by improved function from nanoscale science and technology research.

ASME NEWS: Given that nano-biotechnology is a little understood area of research, how do you explain to engineers what is it and what it can do? How do you explain its relevance to non-engineers?

Craighead: Nanotechnology has no unique definition and rarely would two individuals have the same definition or vision of what this means. For this reason, I avoided using the term for many years. Nanoscale science and nanofabrication are terms that produce less confusion. If pressed for a definition, I would describe nanotechnology as the ability to do useful things by modifying materials at small dimensions. I am concerned that segments of the public may have unrealistic impressions of nanotechnology as something that is not bound by physical and chemical laws, which is clearly not the case.

For more on the Congress and how to register, visit www.asme.org.

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