Cornell's commitment to nanotechnology Tuesday, October 05, 2004 Tomorrow, Cornell University will be dedicating Duffield Hall, it's major new facility for nanoscale research. Nanotechnoogy represents the science of small things. "Nano" means one billionth. So a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. A human hair measures 50,000 nanometers across. Nanoscience represents the study of molecules and structures (nanostructures) between 1 and 100 nanometers across. Nanotechnology is the application of nanostructures to useful nanoscale devices. (Nanotechnology is different than another emerging fields MEMS: microelectromechanical systems. MEMS devices are larger: generally between 1,000 and 1,000,000 nanometers. The most common MEMS device is probably the triggering mechanism in your car airbag.) Back to nanotechnology: you can read two interesting articles on the new Cornell facility. Article 1 and Article 2. If you would like to see some pictures of nanoscale devices, visit this page. Nanotechnology is important, because many analysts see this area of research as providing the foundation for entirely new markets. The National Science Foundation predicts that nano-scale devices could reach $1 trillion by 2015. That would make it one of the fastest growing industries in history. Nanotech is already a major priority for companies like NEC and IBM. If you are interested in keeping up with developments in these markets, read Small TImes. posted by Ed Morrison |		This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. links Some Background on EDPro Weblog The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it. One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information. So, spread the word...Share the knowledge. Tell a friend about EDPro Weblog. If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site: Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber: Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking. Background on Ed Morrison Download some background information on me here.

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