Institute of Nanotechnology
28-29 May 2008, Royal Society, London
Animal testing is costly and there is a great deal of research on finding viable and effective alternatives (new methods that refine existing tests by minimizing animal distress, reducing animal usage, or replacing whole animal tests). This conference will examine the role nanotechnology could also play in improving or refining the development of alternatives to animal testing whilst maintaining safety.
For more information visit www.nano.org.uk/events or contact carrie.smith@nano.org.uk
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
Event: Towards Reducing Animal Testing
Nanotech Week Eurpean News
SAFENANO Launches Scientific Services
The Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) based in Edinburgh has launched a range of new services to help companies minimise the environmental and health risks of working with nanomaterials.
Enhancing performance of lithium batteries
Improving lithium energy storage systems is the aim of the EU-funded ALISTORE (Advanced lithium energy storage systems based on the use of nano-powders and nano-composite electrodes/electrolytes) Network of Excellence.
The INTELTEX project: Creating smart, multifunctional materials
Developing smart, multifunctional materials that can be used in protective clothing, medical applications and buildings is the goal of the EU-funded INTELTEX ('Intelligent multi-reactive textiles integrating nano-filler based CPC-fibres') project.
Braggone receives funding to commercialise Nano-Engineered Polymer Technology
Optoelectronics materials company Braggone has received a multi-million dollar funding infusion from TEKES (Finland's National Funding Agency for Research and Innovation) to commercialise their polymer materials for use in semiconductor devices and flat panel displays.
Enzyme-powered delivery vehicles
Dutch scientists have made nanotubes move using enzyme-powered motors.
nCoat collaborates with solar energy companies
The solar-power developers are using nCoat's nanotechnology coatings in a concentrated thermal power system, which concentrates the sun's radiation and creates highly efficient heat absorption and retention in the heat collection element, the company said. nCoat nanocoatings will also be used to protect solar "Green Energy" systems developed and built by SV-US and BSR.
"Thermal absorption and transfer coatings used in solar energy production is a new market segment for nCoat," said Paul Clayson, nCoat's CEO. "Combining our nanotechnology coatings products and experience with commercialization of solar energy systems positions nCoat to capture revenue at the leading edge of the projected exponential market expansion. Since our coatings are known world-wide as state-of-the-art in market ready nano materials, we are being sought by other technology players to commercialize products with them."
Unidym founder recognized by World Economic Forum
December 28, 2007 -- George Gruner, founder of Unidym Inc., has been selected as a visionary Technology Pioneer for 2008 by the World Economic Forum and has been invited to speak at the upcoming WEF Technology Pioneers Conference in Davos, Switzerland, this January.
Unidym, a majority-owned subsidiary of Arrowhead Research Corp., develops and manufactures carbon nanotubes for the electronics industry.
The Technology Pioneers 2008 were nominated by the world's leading technology experts, including venture capitalists, technology companies, academics and media. The final selection from 273 nominees was made by a panel of leading technology experts appointed by the World Economic Forum.
"Unidym is very proud to have Professor Gruner named a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum," said Arthur L. Swift, Arrowhead's president and chief executive. "This prestigious award is a tribute to the innovative work of Dr. Gruner and the entire research and engineering team at Unidym.
"Carbon nanotubes may be one of the most important emerging technology platforms of the new millennium, and as such, we are gratified by the recognition of our technology leadership."Events
First International Conference on Functional Nanocoatings
Host:
Chemical Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest
Date: 30 March-2 April 2008
Conference chair: Prof. Erika Kálmán
The conference will focus on the following:
- How nanotechnology approaches can be used to design and to create nanostructured functional materials?
- How can advanced nanocoatings systems meet the challenges of different industries?
Conference secretariat:
http://www.chemres.hu/nanocoat
nanocoatings@chemres.hu
tel.: +36 438-1100 ext. 505
fax: +36 438-1164
Visit NanoScience Network at: http://www.nanopaprika.eu
Nanotech Northern Europe 2008
Call for Contributions is Open until Feb 29th - Contribute Now
Nanotech Northern Europe is one of Europe's leading nanotechnology events. After three years in Helsinki, Nanotech Northern Europe now moves to Copenhagen on 23-25th September 2008.
Nanotech Northern Europe is a place for the global nanotechnology community to meet, collaborate, and do business. Nanotech Northern Europe includes a three day conference programme, an exhibition, and various technology transfer and associated workshops.
For full and up to date information about Nanotech Northern Europe please bookmark the event website at www.nanotech.net.
We hope you'll plan to join us in Copenhagen on 23-25 September 2008.
Call for Contributions
Nanotech Northern Europe is seeking contributions for presentations and posters in the following areas:
| Sustainable solutions for energy and environment |
| Nanomaterials for renewable energy New organic solar cells Hydrogen technology and sustainable energy Fuel cells Nanocatalysis |
| Nanotechnology-enabled ICT |
| Quantum information and communication Carbon nanomaterials for Nanoelectronics Nanoelectronics & molecular electronics Nanophotonics |
| Nanobiotechnology and nanomedicine |
| Biomolecular materials by design Diagnostics and biosensors Tissue engineering Drug delivery Nanoscale organization of biological systems |
| Nanofood |
| Safety and Risk Management of Nanotechnology |
| Targeted Workshops including: |
| Research-industry cooperation Public funding of nanotechnology Nanotechnology business development Global nanotechnology and international cooperation |
How to Submit
To begin the submission process, please go to: http://www.nanotech.net
The deadline for submissions is 29th February 2008. Abstracts will then be reviewed, and authors contacted by April. If accepted you will not be required to provide a paper. Instead, we will feature your presentation on the event website at nanotech.net.
Mark your Calendars
Mark your calendars for 23-25 September 2008, and we'll see you in Copenhagen later this year. Keep checking www.nanotech.net for more updates.
The Lead Organizer of Nanotech Northern Europe is Spinverse
Lab-on-a-Chip World Congress, 7-8 May 2008
Sponsored by Lab-on-a-Chip World Congress, 7-8 May 2008, Barcelona, Spain.
Register for the 2nd annual Lab-on-a-Chip World Congress, designed to review
existing and new life science applications of microfluidic technologies, and enjoy
free access to the co-located Advances in Microarrary Technology and Advances
in Biodefense Technology conferences. Confirmed speakers include Jon Cooper,
Chair in Bioelectronics Research Centre, University of Glasgow.
Interview with Dr. David Sarphie - CEO, Bio Nano Centre
Located in Central London is the Bio Nano Centre. Bio Nano is a “specialist product development consultancy” which facilitates both the development and commercialisation of new biomedical and nanotechnology-based products in the UK and Europe.
Set up in 2005, the Centre is a joint venture of Imperial College and University College London. Funding is through the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (formerly DTI) Microsystems and Nanotechnology (MNT). The London Development Agency provides “infrastructure initiative with support.” A partner in the Centre is The National Physical Laboratory (NPL).
Dr. David Sarphie, CEO has been at the helm for the past six months. Sarphie brings a wealth of experience to Bio Nano. He has worked in both medical and biotechnologies. Past companies include PowderJect, Mini Stress (a stress diagnostics company) as well as Imperial College in the area of medical technology, where he worked on robotic technology for knee surgery.
NW: What makes Bio Nano Centre unique?
DS: “One of the real strengths of the Bio Nano situation is it brings together two somewhat diverse disciplines under one roof and not only that, but two institutions (which) bring what I generally describe as the bio medical expertise of Imperial College (part of the Institute of Bio Medical Engineering).
That is one of the components and the London Centre for Nanotechnology over here at UCL which kind of represents the other components. We have another partner as well, in the National Physical Library, NPL but the two academic institutions primarily represent the somewhat diverse disciplines. Bringing them together, I think makes a real strength to the company.
NW: What is the difference between bio medical and nanotechnology?
DS: Bio medical applications generally are not necessarily revolving around or have anything to do with nanotechnology. Nanotechnology of course is in an absolute nutshell, the study of and understanding of things which are under one and 100 nanometers in size, so very very tiny. So it’s applying that to do beneficial things. What we’re doing is focusing on how we can use these sorts of technologies to dev useful tools for the bio medical and health care communities.
NW: What are your current projects?
DS: We have two projects we are currently working on. The first project we started is with a US based pharmaceutical company. And it’s using a technique that’s been developed in a couple of places. LCN is one of the world’s experts (in) nano cantilevers. It’s a way of effectively looking at the interaction between a drug, in this case an antibiotic and its potential target.
What we’re looking at is how well a nanobiotic can interact with a peptide which mimics a bacterial cell wall so what this antibiotic does in terms of killing the bacteria; it actually gets in the cell wall and disrupts the cell wall. That is the theory.
What we are doing is using a very sensitive technique for looking at that and different types of so-called peptides which mimic different types of bacterial cell walls which are resistant to, in other words, a bacteria that conventional drugs cannot kill. So it’s a so-called Superbug, which, is a very big worry among the medical community. We are looking at a drug which appears to, in my understanding of the clinical studies, appears to be much more effective in those situations with those types of bacteria. I can’t go into alot of detail, but certainly the data seems to back that up. So it’s very exciting stuff. So it’s looking at drug target interaction for different types of anti biotics.
The second project is with a world leading diagnostics company based in Scotland who have asked us to characterise some glucose test strips that they’re developing. We have some very sophisticated equipment and expertise available at the Uni for looking at, characterising and understanding the fine micro nanostructures. This will help them to further develop and improve their test strips.
NW: Why are you based in London?
DS: The company was set-up as a joint venture between Imperial College London and University College London and received substantial funding from the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI – now known as the Technology Strategy Board) and from the London Development Agency. The specific aim of the joint venture was to create a Centre of Excellence in bio and nano-technology in London.
NW: What investment opportunities do you see in Europe and the UK?
DS: A number of early-stage university spin-outs are being set up in the UK and Europe to take advantage of new developments in the field. This will only escalate in the years to come, although a number of fundamental issues related to application of nanotechnology to medical and pharmaceuticals fields remain to be resolved.
NW: What do you think is the future of nanoscience and nanotechnology?
DS: I think we will see that nanotechnology and nanosciences can help address fundamental problems in the medical and biotechnology fields in years to come although it’s important not to over-hype its potential too early or to forget the likely long timescales for developing fundamentally-new products.
IP
Any Intellectual Property developed via Bio Nano belongs to either the company working with the centre or the two colleges. In the past Sarphie has enjoyed working on such projects. Although not part of their business model, eventually owning its own IP could be beneficial for Bio Nano.
The future of nanotechnology
Overall, Sarphie is optimistic about nanotechnology. He has a healthy amount of scepticism about the hype. One area where he sees real potential is in solar energy. He like others involved in nanoscience and nanotechnology see the potential for cross platform technologies. Bio Nano looks set to be among those paving the way in medical technologies and beyond.
Monday, 17 December 2007
Nanotech Week European News
Finland and China team up in nanotechnology
NanoChina
Finland's national nanotech initiative (FinNano) is rapidly advancing on the international scene. After kickstarting cooperation with Russia last week, FinNano is now sowing seeds in China.
Finland is a leading partner in the Europan Union's nanotech group NMT, and directs the EU's material technology group MATERA.
The partners in Finland–China NAMI cooperation aim to create world class research and put Sino–F innish nanotech products on the market together by 2010.
The Chinese Minister of Science and Technology (MOST) Dr. Wan Gang and Vice Minister Dr. Shang Yong joined in the celebration of the opening of China International Nanotech Innovation Cluster (CINIC) in Suzhou on Saturday. Finland has set foot in Suzhou, signing agreements for nanotechnology development and commercialisation.
Mr. Juho Rissanen, the Beijing representative of Tekes and counsellor of science and technology at the Embassy of Finland, gave an opening speech in Chinese informing the new MOST Minister on the current status of Finland-China nanotech cooperation. Dr. Markku Lämsä, who leads Finland's nanotech programme, signed a cooperation agreement with Suzhou nanotech cluster. Represented by Mr. Jaani Heinonen of Tekes Shanghai office and the Consulate General of Finland, the Finnish Technical Research Centre VTT also signed a cooperation agreement with Suzhou.
"The willingness to team up and the amount of joint projects proposed clearly show the demand for deeper collaboration between China and Finland in the area of nanotechnology. The Sino–Finnish NAMI Nanotech Program can also positively increase the exchange of know-how between the European Union and China", says Dr. Lämsä.
The China–Finland NAMI (Nanotechnology Strategic Mutual Cooperation Initiative) was signed in Beijing in January 2007, and more than 30 project proposals and expressions of interest have been collected so far. The first cooperation projects under the NAMI programme have been launched in October.
Finland is the first country to sign a national level strategic cooperation agreement with China on nanotechnology. The new Finnish technology programme on functional materials, with a budget of 200 million euros, was introduced to the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology last Monday in Beijing. It is expected that still more cooperation projects will be generated under this new programme, to be implemented under the NAMI framework. Both the national nanotech programme and functional materials programme are funded and directed by Tekes, and coordinated by Spinverse Inc., a private Finnish technology consultancy.
Ambitious objectives for cooperation
Finland–China NAMI cooperation aims at increasing the competitiveness of industrial sectors in the two countries. The industries include information and communication technologies, pulp and paper, chemicals, metals and other materials, diagnostics and healthcare. The production of energy using new technologies such as solar cell and fuel cells may also be considered.
In Finland, nanotechnology is one of the focus areas of national innovation policy, with extensive public and private investments. The Finnish Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Programme FinNano is a coordinated action on a national level to increase the expertise in science and technology. Finnish public funding organisations are investing more than 120 million euros in nanoscience and nanotechnology programmes between 2005 and 2010.
Launch of Joint BMBF "Nanoanalysis" Project for Chip Development
From Nanoforum
DRESDEN, OBERKOCHEN/Germany, 06.11.2007.
The companies AMD, Carl Zeiss SMT and Qimonda are launching a cooperation within the framework of the joint “Nanoanalysis“ project which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with a sum of 12 million euros. The partners are working together on new analytical and characterization methods required for the development of the next chip generation. This strengthens the competency of the Dresden microelectronics site, particularly in the fields of semiconductor analysis and metrology.
As announced today by Dr. Wolf-Dieter Lukas, Head of the BMBF Department “Key Technologies – Research for Innovations“, the strategic setup and expansion of microelectronics competency centers is an important goal of the BMBF IKT2020 program. “Only by setting targeted priorities in research funding will we succeed in maintaining Dresden’s leading role in high-tech chip production and in further expanding it through such innovative approaches as here in the field of nanoanalysis.“
The newly founded “Carl Zeiss Innovation Center Dresden“ is an important module within the joint “Nanoanalysis“ project. Here, ultrahigh resolution particle beam systems are being installed which use electron and ion beams instead of light. These systems enable the imaging, analysis and processing of specimens down to the level of individual atoms. In this way, they are playing a decisive role in the characterization of three-dimensional semiconductor structures and in the development of new materials for chip fabrication. “With its Innovation Center, Carl Zeiss SMT is becoming involved in ‘Silicon Saxony’, Europe’s leading microelectronics cluster. Not only is the cluster being strengthened in its function as a research location, but the ongoing development of the local semiconductor industry is also being promoted”, explains Dr. Dirk Stenkamp, Member of the Carl Zeiss SMT Board of Management.
“As a manufacturer of innovative microprocessors, we are faced with the challenge of producing increasingly complex structures with smaller and smaller dimensions and with maximum yield“, says Dr. Udo Nothelfer, Vice President AMD Fab 36. “Therefore, process control at an atomic level plays a key role. Through our joint work in the Carl Zeiss Innovation Center Dresden, we have access to leading edge electron and ion microscopes and believe we can therefore further accelerate the introduction of new technologies. The experience gained in industrial utilization may be incorporated at an early stage in the development of future analytical systems.“
“With the structure dimensions now achieved, current storage cells can only be seen under the electron microscope“, says Frank Prein,
Managing Director Qimonda Dresden and Senior Vice President Technology Qimonda. “Only through the consistent enhancement of the analytical and measuring methods will it be possible to master the future challenges posed by the development and production of state-of-the-art storage technologies. Through the diversified integration of research partners, Qimonda will use the excellence of the research location for its technology competency center in Dresden within the framework of the joint ‘Nanoanalysis’ project and expand and strengthen its scientific network.“
In addition to the cooperation partners AMD and Qimonda, the “Carl Zeiss Innovation Center Dresden“ is available to all interested firms and institutes in the Dresden area. In particular, all partners of “Silicon Saxony”, e.g. the Dresden Technical University or the Fraunhofer Center Nanoelectronic Technologies CNT, can resolve application problems in the field of nanotechnology.
Faster and more efficient thanks to "defects"
From Nanoforum
Smaller, faster, more efficient: BASF research scientists are helping to revolutionize the future world of telecommunications - with the aid of three-dimensional photonic crystals. In a three-year project, BASF is researching into the development of these crystals together with partners such as Hanover Laser Center, Thales Aerospace Division, Photon Design Ltd., the Technical University of Denmark and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications de Bretagne. joint ‘Nanoanalysis’ project and expand and strengthen its scientific network.“
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