Through ASME, lawmakers learn about nano field

Mary Legatski
ASME Government Relations

Sen. Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican and chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, was one of some 80 attendees at "Nanotechnology: The Next Industrial Revolution?" the first in a series of ASME-hosted briefings for congressional staff on nanotechnology.

In welcoming attendees to the May 16 event, ASME President John R. Parker emphasized, "Engineers are at the forefront in bringing nanotechnology from research to product commercialization."

Albert Pisano, director of the Electronics Research Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, served as the session's moderator.

During the briefing, Pisano noted that the emerging fields of nanoscale science, engineering and technology, known collectively as nanotechnology, are giving researchers a new way of making and measuring things at the nano level. Nano units are roughly the equivalent of 1/10,000 the width of a human hair.

Pisano said that investment in nanotechnology research "will allow us (the United States) to out-innovate our competitors" in key sectors, such as transportation, communications, manufacturing, environment and energy, space exploration and medicine.

Ted Poehler, vice provost of research and engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, discussed potential applications of nanotechnology in improving health care. He said research resulting in nanosensor implants for early detection of disease and nanoscaffolds upon which to build tissue are examples of health care applications.

Stanley Williams, a Fellow and director of Quantum Science Research, Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, attributed the growth of the computer industry, from one computer to a $2 trillion annual business, to federal investment in engineering and basic research in physical science some 40 to 45 years ago.

Noting the correlation between federal research investment in a discipline and the number of researchers entering those disciplines, Williams said, "We have sucked the minds out of engineering and physical science by funding research in life sciences at the expense of investment in engineering and physical science research."

He urged a more balanced approach to research investment to assure that the emerging nanotechnology field will have the technically trained people it will need to make the nano revolution a reality.

Mike Roco, chair of the National Science and Technology Council's subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering and Technology, believes that nano-level products and devices are inevitable, as they require less space, less material and less energy.

He predicts that, over the next 10 to 15 years, semiconductors will operate at the nanoscale, one-half of all pharmaceuticals will depend on nanotechnology and nano-structured catalysts will be used in the petrochemical industry. Roco noted that the fiscal 2002 budget request for nanotechnology is $519 million, an increase of 23 percent over the current year's budget.

ASME plans to host a series of Congressional Noontime Briefings on nanotechnology, focusing on specific areas of research, development and commercialization in upcoming sessions.

For additional information on ASME's future plans in nanotechnology, contact Charles Beardsley at (212) 591-7789.

For information on the Congressional Noontime Briefing series on nanotechnology, contact Reese Meisinger at (202) 785-3756.

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