Nanotech conference gathers steam

Jack Raplee
ASME NEWS

ASME's conference, "Integrated Nanosystems 2002: Design, Synthesis and Applications," will be Sept. 18-20 in Berkeley, Calif.

The nanotechnology conference culminates with a panel of leading nanotech investors and executives representing business and venture perspectives. They will discuss the commercialization of the developing technology and business models for nanotechnology companies.

The panel session is scheduled to be held from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 20. The panelists are: Steve Jurvetson, managing director at Draper Fisher Jurvetson; James J. Marek, Jr., CEO of San Jose-based California Molecular Electronics Corp., which commercially develops molecule-size electronics; Darlene Solomon, senior director of R&D Technology Management at Agilent Technologies, a company that produces test measurement and monitoring devices, semiconductor products, and chemical analysis tools for the communications and life sciences disciplines; Rick Snyder, CEO of Ardesta, a venture capital company in Ann Arbor, Mich., that invests in microsystems start-up and early-stage companies and provides business and technical resources to them; James Von Ehr, CEO of Zyvex Corp., a systems integrator in Richardson, Texas, with an assembly-based approach to macro, micro and nano devices; Michael Dart, chief operating officer of Taproot Ventures LLC, a venture capital firm that invests in technology-enabled businesses; and Josh Wolfe, managing partner at Lux Capital, which focuses its investments on information technology and nanotechnology businesses.

The objective of the conference, which is sponsored by ASME's Nanotechnology Institute, is to bring together engineers, scientists, government and venture capitalists to develop nanotechnology and to focus on the integration and development of functional nanosystems, nanomaterials and nanostructures for new devices and systems.

"We see a tremendous opportunity, not only for research in science and engineering, but also for novel technologies that can have a far-reaching impact on our society," said Arun Majumdar, vice chair for instruction in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and chair of the Nanotechnology Institute's advisory board.

The conference will be highlighted by keynote addresses by Mildred Dresselhaus of MIT, on Sept. 19 from 8 to 8:30 a.m., and George Whitesides of Harvard University, on Sept. 20 from 7:30 to 8 a.m. Mihail Roco of the National Science and Technology Council's Nanoscale Science, Engineering and Technology Subcommittee and the National Science Foundation will deliver the plenary address on Sept. 19 from 1 to 1:30 p.m.

For more information, contact Raj Manchanda, director of advanced technology programs at (212) 591-7789 or by e-mail: manchandar@asme.org.

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