Volume 11, Number 3 • Fall 2003 • Technology Transfer

Leaders Discuss Nanotechnology Market

To discuss the trillion-dollar nanotechnology market that experts believe will be born from research at the molecular scale, almost 300 leaders, from industry, academia and government, converged on August 19 at NASA Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. NASA co-hosted the Bay Area Nanotechnology Forum with US Representative Mike Honda, co-sponsor of the Boehlert-Honda Nanotechnology Bill, H.R. 766.

The President’s Administration strongly endorses this initiative. As reported in the National Nanotechnology Initiative: Supplement to the President’s FY 2004 Budget, “Investments in nanoscale science and technology R&D are essential to achieving the President’s top three priorities: winning the war on terrorism, securing the homeland and strengthening the economy” (Marburger).

“Though nanotechnology has its roots in the 20th century, this exciting discipline will come to maturity during this century and will revolutionize our way of life more than any other technology preceding it,” said NASA Ames Center Director G. Scott Hubbard. “Those of us who come together here today realize that the R&D community is on the verge of significant scientific discovery and soon will help bring the nanotechnology revolution front and center in the lives of all who inhabit this planet.”

Nanotechnology is the creation of materials, devices and systems through the control of matter on the nanometer scale. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. Scientists say nanotechnology could lead to changes in almost everything from computers and medicine to even automobiles and spacecraft.
“Nanotech represents the ‘next best thing’ to come after the great high-tech boom that is the basis of our regional economy, and it is important that we do all that we can to ensure that as the field grows, the bay area shares in that growth,” Honda said. “A visit to NASA Ames in early 2002 was when I first became very excited about the potential of this new technology and began to focus on both the funding and policy issues related to nanotechnology,” Honda explained.

US Representative Zoe Lofgren, a co-sponsor of H.R. 766, said that the local economic situation is “grim in this area where one-third of households have experienced layoffs” in recent years. She said that she and Honda have seen the Silicon Valley transform into a high-technology center because of investments. The National Science Foundation (NSF) predicted that the worldwide market for nanotechnology products and services could reach $1 trillion by 2015, according to Honda.

“Just as computers have transformed the way our society operates over the last 30 years, nanotechnology stands ready to transform our future,” said US Rep. Anna G. Eshoo in a statement read to the crowd by Hubbard.

“As part of our pursuit of NASA aeronautics and space programs, NASA Ames is working to fuse information technology, biotechnology and nanotechnology R&D,” Hubbard explained. “This will facilitate NASA’s ability to achieve the nation’s goals in aeronautics and space. We can reduce the cost of space exploration, bring back better information and help determine whether there is life beyond our planet,” Hubbard said.

“NASA’s interest in nanotechnology is that it will result in stronger materials, ultra-small electronic devices, perhaps even intelligent spacecraft. Miniaturization also may well enable new space missions with lower weight parts requiring less power and fuel,” Hubbard said.

“We are now waiting for the Senate to act on its own nanotechnology bill, which differs slightly in its details from the House bill,” Honda said. “President Bush has expressed his support, however, so I expect the bill to come to the Senate floor for approval when we return this fall, a compromise to be worked out, and the bill to be signed by the President,” Honda explained. “The largest chunks of the funding in the bill will either be directed to programmatic efforts of the agencies, to centers and projects at the national labs run by the Department of Energy and facilities such as NASA’s nanotechnology center here at Ames, or be distributed through peer-reviewed grant competitions (NSF), which academic researchers are quite familiar with,” Honda said.

“Some nanotechnology advances that scientists expect will benefit NASA include integrated nanosensors that will collect, process and communicate massive amounts of data,” said Meyya Meyyappan, the Director of the Center for Nanotechnology at Ames, who presented a major talk during the forum. Nanotechnology will impact computing and data storage, materials and manufacturing, health and medicine, energy and environment, transportation, national security and space exploration, according to Meyyappan. *

More information about NASA nanotechnology can be found on the Web at http://www.ipt.arc.nasa.gov. Additional information about the forum and some presentation notes are available on the Internet at www.bayareananoforum.org. Please mention you read about it in Innovation.

NASA Official: Jonathan Root • Web Design: Printing & Design Office, NASA Headquarters • Credits