The National Nanotechnology Coordination Office, in a "Notice of Public Meeting" published in the Federal Register of 02/02/2012, announced that on March 27-28 of this year, it would be holding an "International Symposium on Assessing the Economic Impact of Nanotechnology". The symposium, organized by the National Nanotechnology Initiative and theOrganization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The symposium will be hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington DC on March 27th and 28th from 8:30AM to 6PM.

The symposium will focus on

the scope of economic impacts of nanotechnology, input and output factors, metrics for other technological assessments, and consideration of the appropriateness of these metrics for nanotechnology materials and products. Topics addressed will include the role of research funding portfolios, intellectual property frameworks, venture capital, public-private partnerships, state and local initiatives, international cooperation, and metrics such as private sector and industry investments, patents and publications, and the development of a technologically-educated workforce as metrics for nanotechnology.

Confirmed as speakers at the symposium are:

• Françoise Roure, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

• Gregory Tassey, National Institute of Standards and Technology, United States

• Mark Morrison, Institute for Nanotechnology, United Kingdom

• Adalberto Fazzio, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Brazil

• Kazunobu Tanaka, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Japan

• Altaf Carim, Office of Science and Technology Policy, United States

• Herbert von Bose, European Commission

• Joseph Molapisi, Department of Science and Technology, South Africa

• GV Ramaraju, Department of Information Technology, India

• Tom Crawley, Spinverse

• Philip Shapira, Georgia Institute of Technology

• Francis Peters, Michelin Worldwide

• Travis Earles, Lockheed Martin

• Lawrence Tamarkin, CytImmune Sciences, Inc.

• Joerg Vienken, Fresenius Medical Care

• Hilary Flynn, Lux Research

• Reinhold Crotogino, ArboraNano

• Peter Kruger, Bayer

• Kalpana Sastry, National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, India

• Victor Berucci Neto, The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation

• Mike Roco, National Science Foundation, United States

• Ajit Jillavenkatesa, National Institute of Standards and Technology, United States

• Douglas Robinson, teQnode

• Diana Bowman, University of Michigan

• Tateo Arimoto, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Japan

• Julia Lane, National Science Foundation, United States

• Esper Cavalheiro, Center for Strategic Studies and Management Science, Technology and Innovation

• Leonid Gokhberg, National Research University 'Higher School of Economics'

• Ben Walsh, Oakdene Hollins

• Bertrand Loubaton, GE Healthcare Europe

• Richard Clinch, University of Baltimore

• Bertrand Loubaton, GE Healthcare

• Eunmi Jung, Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, Korea

• Oleg Karasev, National Research University 'Higher School of Economics'

• Kristen Loughery, Environmental Protection Agency, United States

• Rosalie Ruegg, TIA Consulting

 

A draft verion of the symposium agenda may be found here.

Due to space limitations pre-registration for the symposium is required and begins on Friday 02/10/2012. Pre-registration is on a "first come, first served" basis and continues until capacity is reached or until 03/23/2012.

Those wishing to attend can register online at www.nano.gov/symposium, via e-mail to symposium@nnco.nano.gov or via snail mail at the following address:

International Symposium on Assessing the Economic Impact of Nanotechnology,

c/o NNCO,

4201 Wilson Blvd.,

Stafford II, Suite 405,

Arlington, VA 22230

Anyone who would like to present 3-5 minutes of public comments at the symposium should register online. Written comments may be submitted to symposium@nnco.nano.gov until 03/23/2012..

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The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Science and Space will be holding a hearing at 10AM on Thursday July 14, "The National Nanotechnology Investment: Manufacturing, Commercialization and Job Creation",

As the Commerce Committee considers a reauthorization of the National Nanotechnology Initiative, the hearing will examine the potential of nanotechnology, federal initiatives to coordinate research investments, barriers to commercialization, possible environmental and health risks, and steps Congress can take to improve the return on federal nanotechnology investments.

Appearing before the Subcommittee are the following witnesses:

• Dr. Chad A. Mirkin
  Director, International Institute for Nanotechnology, Northwestern University
  Member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology

• Dr. Charles (Chuck) H. Romine
  Acting Associate Director, Laboratory Programs, and Principal Deputy, Office of the Director
  National Institute of Standards and Technology

• Dr. Diandra Leslie-Pelecky
  Director, West Virginia Nano Initiative
  Professor of Physics, West Virginia University

• Dr. Thomas O'Neal
  Associate Vice President for Research and Commercialization, University of Central Florida
  Executive Director, University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program

• Dr. George L. McLendon
  Howard R. Hughes Provost and Professor of Chemistry
  Rice University

 

The hearing will also be webcast on the Committee's website. The witnesses prepared statements will be posted to the Subcommittee's site the day of the hearing.

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On 01/13/2011, the Office of Science and Technology Policy published a notice in the Federal Register extending the time for filing comments for the Draft NNI Strategy for Nanotechnology Related Environmental, Health and Safety Research to 01/21/2011. The 2011 Draft Strategy is designed to replace and update  the 2008 Strategy and is the product of a series of stakeholder workshops, responses to a request for information published in the Federal Register on 07/06/2010 and comments filed online in response to questions posted on the NNI Strategic Portal.

The Draft Strategy, dated 12/06/2010, notes NNI's EHS "Research Strategy provides guidance to the federal agencies as they develop their agency specified nanotechnology EHS research priorities implementation plans, and timelines." Added to that guidance

. . . is the inclusion of ethical, legal and societal implications (ESLI) of EHS research. . . .How nanotechnology research and applications are introduced into society, how transparent decisions are; how sensitive and responsible policies are to the needs and perceptions of the full range of stakeholders; and how ethical, legal and social issues are address will determine public trust and the future of innovation driven by nanotechnology.

Chapter 1 of the draft is introductory. Chapter 2 discusses the need to develop "A Comprehensive Measurement Infrastructure Consisting of a Suite of Complementary Tools", defined here as protocols, standards (reference materials), instruments, models and Data (further defined as "benchmark data that have been measured using validated protocols and reference materials  . . . or other well-characterized test materials . . .for accurate. precise and reproducible measurements . . . ." and identifies five "Research Needs" for the development of measurement tools:

1 - Determination of physico-chemical properties of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) and nanotecnhology enable products (NEPs) in relevant media and during the lifecycles of ENMs and NEPs

2 - Detection and Monitoring of ENMs in realistic exposure media and conditions during the life cycles of the ENMs and NEPs

3 - Evaluation of transformations of ENMs in relevant media and during the life cycles of ENMs and NEPs

4 - Evaluation of biological responses to ENMs and NEPs in relevant media and during the life cycles of ENMs and NEPs

5 - Evaluation of response mechanisms in ENMS and NEPs in relevant media and during the life cycles of NEPs

Chapter 3. "Human Exposure Assessments" notes that

"The number of products in commerce and development that contain nanomaterials has grown rapidly . . . .Hence, research on potential exposure must evaluate whether, and to what degree, exposure will occur for each nanomaterial or NEP at each stage of its life cycle. . . .As the likelihood for exposure for key population segments is determined, care should be taken in determining what constitutes a "key segment" of the population, who is empowered to define groups of people, and what implications may arise from placing people in particular categories. In addition, subpopulations among the "general population" that are disproportionally exposed or more vulnerable to impacts from exposure should be identified."

"Because of the relative newness of nanotechnology" there is little reliable data regarding exposure to NEPs in the workplace (typically, in manufacturing facilities) or by consumers purchasing, handling, using, or wearing NEPs (for example, socks with nanosilver woven into them). Chapter 3 Identifies four research needs:

1- Understanding of the  processes and factors that determine exposures to nanomaterials

2- Identify population groups exposed to ENMs and NEPs

3- Characterization of individual exposures to nanomaterials

4- Conduct health surveillance of exposed populations

While Chapter 3 focused on populations and subpopulations, Chapter 4, "Human Health", focuses on the individual. Chapter 4, as did previous chapters, notes the lack of "Critical data sets needed to understand fully the rise of exposure and develop science based" health and safety guidelines.

Six research needs are identified in this chapter:

1- Identify or develop appropriate, reliable, and reproducible in vitro and in vivo assays and models to predict in vivo human responses to ENMs

2 - Quantify and characterize ENMs in exposure matrices and biological matrices

3 - "Understand the relationship between the physio-chemical properties of engineered nanomaterials and their transport, distribution, metabolism, excretion and body burden in the human body"

4 - Understand the relationship between the physico-chemical properties of ENMs and their uptake through "port of entry" tissues in the human body

5 - Determine the "modes of action" beneath human biological response to ENMs at levels ranging from the molecular to that of the whole body

6 - Determine the extent to which life stages and/or susceptibility factors modulate health effects associated with ENMs/NEPs exposure

Chapter 5, "Environment", focuses on what, after the potential effects of nanomaterials on the human body, may be the most controversial aspect of nanotechnology and the growth of nanoindustry, the potential effect on ENMs and NEPs on the environment. As the draft notes:

Understanding . . . potential environmental implications is critical to implementing good product stewardship and to instilling public confidence in the safety of nanomaterials and nano-enabled products that could benefit society. . . .Fundamental studies of the potential hazards from nanomaterials . . .should be guided by a view of how nanomaterials behave in environmental systems. To Understand ecosystem-wide effects, the sources (production/use/disposal), the pathways, and the key environmental receptors need to be understood.

 

Chapter 5 identifies five Research Needs:

1-  Understand environmental exposures through identification of principal sources of exposure and exposure routes

2 - Determine factors affecting the environmental transport of nanomaterials

3 - Understand the transformation of nanomaterials under different environmental conditions

4 - Understand the effects of engineered nanomaterials on individuals of a species and the applicability of testing schemes to measure effects

5 - Evaluate the effects of ENMs/NEPs at the population, community. and ecosystem levels

Chapter 6 is focused on "Risk Assessment and Risk Management Methods", defined here as (1) ". . . the application of analytical tools, data, and expert knowledge to the evaluation of potential exposures of humans and the environment to nanomaterials and the hazards . . . exposure might engender" and (2) the use of risk management methods to identify and implement strategies to address potential hazards. The draft report notes that while there are "A number of national and international activities relevant to RA and RMM. . . . most projects are in early stages" of information collection and evaluation.

Chapter 6 discusses five Research Needs:

1 - Incorporate relevant risk characterization information, hazard identification, exposure science, and risk modeling and methods into the safety evaluation of nanomaterials

2 - Understand, characterize, and control workplace exposures to nanomaterials

3 - Integrate life cycle considerations into risk assessment and risk management

4 - Integrate risk assessment into decision making frameworks for risk management

5 - Integrate and standardize risk communication within the risk management framework

Chapter 7, "Informatics and Modeling for NanoEHS Research" discusses the need to (1) improve the quality and availability of data, (2) expand theory, modeling, and simulation capabilities, and (3) build a collaborative informatics infrastructure.

Chapter 8, " The Path Forward", focuses on "near-term opportunities to target and accelerate progress in NanoEHS R&D, to maintain close accord with the overall goals and objectives of the National Nanotechnology Initiative, and effectively coordinate agency research activities and share their result."

Details on filing comments may be found in the FR notice. Comments need to be filed no later than 11:59PM on 01/21/2011.

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UPDATE

The House agreed to the Senate amendment to HR 5116 on 12/21/2010. We'll discuss the implications of this in more detail after the Xmas holiday.

The Senate unanimously passed H.R. 5116 on Friday 12/17/2010, after first adopting an amendment in the nature of a substitute. As opposed to the version of H.R. 5116 that was passed in the House, the language of the amended version contains no provisions to reauthorize the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). As amended and passed by the Senate, the language of H.R. 5116 contains no references to nanotechnology at all.

The amended bill, basically a reduced version of S. 3605 as reported out of committee on 12/10/2010, reduces the amounts appropriated for various agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, from $84 billion to $43 billion over a three year period.

Having been passed by the Senate in an amended version, H.R. 5116 must now go back to the House for another vote to accept the Senate's amendment. If this happens, then the bill will go to President Obama to be signed into law. However, if the House disagrees with the amendment, the bill would be sent to a Conference Committee, composed of Senators and Representatives appointed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, charged with the task of creating a comprise version that would be acceptable to both the House and Senate. It is possible that an amendment reauthorizing NNI could be adopted during House debate or in a Conference Committee; however, considering that the House is approaching adjournment, and that Rep. Bart Gordon, chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee and author of the House version of H.R. 5116,  has endorsed the bill, stating that "It keeps our basic research agencies on a doubling path, it continues to invest in high-risk, high-reward energy technology development, it will help improve STEM education, and it will help unleash American innovation", it is likely that the House will vote to agree to the Senate's amendment.

Rep. Ralph Hall, currently the Ranking Member of the Committee, stated that ". . . the bill that passed today spends too much money, authorizes duplicative programs, and shifts focus away from the bill's original intent." Rep. Hall will be Chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee in the 112th Congress.

Not having been reauthorized in this bill, the future of NNI is unclear.

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Monday's Federal Register carried a notice from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Nanoscience, Engineering and Technology Subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council inviting the public to comment on the 2010 National Nanotechnology Initiative Strategic Plan.

The NNI Strategic Plan

 is the framework that underpins the nanotechnology work of the NNI
member agencies. It aims to ensure that advances in nanotechnology
research and development (R&D) and their applications to agency
missions and the broader national interest continue unabated in this
still-young field. Its purpose is to facilitate achievement of the NNI
vision by laying out targeted guidance for agency leaders, program
managers, and the research community regarding planning and
implementation of nanotechnology R&D investments and activities.
 

The NNI Strategic Plan represents the consensus of the
participating agencies as to the high-level goals and priorities of the
NNI and specific objectives for at least the next three years. It
describes the four overarching goals of the NNI, the major Program
Component Areas established in 2004 to broadly track the categories of
investments needed to ensure the success of the initiative, and the
near-term objectives that will be the concrete steps taken toward
collectively achieving the NNI vision and goals. Finally, the plan
describes collaborative interagency activities, including three
Nanotechnology Signature Initiatives that are a new model of
specifically targeted and closely coordinated interagency, cross-sector
collaboration designed to accelerate innovation in areas of national
priority.
 

The 2010 Strategic Plan is the result of reviews by the President's Council of Advisors on Science & Technology, the National Research Council, a stakeholders workshop held earlier in July 2010 and comments filed in response to a Federal Register notice published in the issue of July 6, 2010.

The four overarching goals of the NNI refered to above are

1) Advance a world class nanotechnology research and development program

2) Foster the transfer of new technologies into products for commercial and public (non-commercial) benefit

3) Develop and sustain educational resources, a skilled workforce, and the supporting infrastructure and tools to further advance nanotechnology

4) Support responsible development of nanotechnology

Each of these goals is further broken down into four objectives and in some case these objectives are further broken down, with a short paragraph describing the objective and how that objective is to be accomplished.

Other sections of the NNI Strategic Plan examine "The Path Forward", discussing future initiatives and activities, and "Program Component Areas", which includes a chart showing where each federal agency taking part in the NNI fits in.

Members of the public who want to file comments on the 2010 Draft NNI Strategic Plan are encouraged to register online at http://stategy.nano.gov. Comments should be only one page or less and should be filed by November 30, 2010. More details on filing comments may be found at the website.

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In an article in the September issue of Nature ("Nanotechnology: Small wonders"), Corie Lok reviews the beginnings and accomplishments of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) over the last ten years.

The article attributes the creation of the NNI to four factors:

- A booming US economy, particularly in the high tech sector

- Support from the Clinton administration as it entered its last year in office

- Developments within the then emerging science of nanotechnology that caught the public's attention

- Visionary scientists and engineers who could clearly and in terms everyone could understand communicate what this new field of science was about and how it would benefit everyone. The late Dr. Richard Smalley and Mihail Roco are noted by Ms. Lok for their work in getting NNI started.

NNI's success in creating research centers and legitimizing nanotech in the eyes of the general public, leading  to a flow of venture capital to start-up companies that planned to commercialize the results of nanotech research, is offset by what Lok and others consider its biggest flaw, a lack of focus on the possible adverse effects of nanomaterials on the environment and human health. NNI is now beginning to fund research in these areas.

As the article notes, NNI deserves a great deal of the credit for nurturing nanotechnology over the past decade. But as nanotech has begun to mature, expectations of returns on the investments of both public and private capital in the form of practical and commercial applications and products have risen. In many ways, nanotech and nanoindustries are still at a beginning stage and applications of nanotech in such fields as medicine are still being developed and explored.

NNI faces an uncertain future, with bills that would reauthorize and continue funding for NNI, such as HR 554, the "National Nanotechnology Initiative Amendments Act", passed in the House in February 2009  and HR 5116, the "America COMPETES Reauthorization Act", passed in the House in June 2010 awaiting action in the Senate. S. 1482, the Senate version of the "National Nanotechnology Initiatives Amendment Act" - despite the same title, they are not companion bills - remains stuck in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.  As Congress returns from the August recess, these bills may be brought up for debate before Congress adjourns so members may run for re-election.  It is also possible that the bills may be brought up for debate in a "lame-duck" session following the elections.

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The Congressional Research Service, in March of this year, released a report, "Nanotechnology: A Policy Primer", written by John F. Sargent, Jr., a specialist in Science and Technology Policy. The primer's first section focuses on a review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). A table showing funding from various government agencies and departments for NNI shows that from FY 2006 to FR 2010, the Department of Defense (DOD) has been the largest single source of funding. However, this is about to change. In FY 2011, DOD will fall to 4th place, preceded by the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). This shifting of the majority of funding from DOD  may reflect a normal path of evolution; DOD has long been a source of funding for new technologies that eventually develop non-military uses. It may also reflect that future DOD budgets will not be as robust as they have been in the last few years.

Noting that "In the longer term, nanotechnology may deliver revolutionary advances with profound economic and societal implications", Part 2 of the CRS report considers briefly area that may be most affected by nanotech:

Detection and treatment technologies for cancer

"Clean, inexpensive, renewable power through energy creation, storage and transmission technologies"

Universal Access to clean water supplies, both in the US and less developed nations:  " Nanotechnology water desalination and filtration systems may offer affordable, scalable and portable water filtration systems".

"High density memory devices", improving the performance of computers and other devices.

Improved, more abundant crop yields and nutrition: " Higher crop yields might be achieved using nanoscale sensors that detect the presence of a virus or disease infecting particle . . . . Nanotechnology also offers the potential for improved nutrition. Some companies are exploring the development of nanocapsules that release nutrients targeted at specific parts of the body at specific times".

Self-healing materials

"Sensors that can warn of minute levels of toxic and pathogens in air, soil, or water."

Remediation of contaminated sites: ". . .  nanoscale particles . . . may offer more effective and less costly solution to environmental contamination."

The report also discusses other selected issues, primarily US competitiveness with other nations in the  nanotech area, using public and private investment, scientific papers published and cited, and patents issued as measurement parameters. The report notes that while the United States still leads all other nations in these areas, that lead has diminished over the last few years, with Japan, Germany and the People's Republic of China (PRC) poised to assume the lead. In these areas, the potential loss of US competitiveness is reflected in the debates in the media and Congress over free trade agreements (FTAs) and government policy towards the manufacturing sector and how best to aid it.

The report concludes with brief considerations of (1) environmental, health and safety implications of nanotechnology, (2) nanomanufacturing, and (3) public attitudes toward and understanding or misunderstanding of nanotech issues, noting that public support for nanotech tends to be greatest among those with advanced degrees and higher incomes.

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The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, on July 22, favorably reported S. 3605, the Senate version of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, sending it on the the full Senate for debate.

The text of the bill as reported is not yet available from THOMAS, however the text of the bill as introduced by Senator Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia on July 15, 2010, does show differences from H.R. 5116, the version passed in the House. The Senate version contains no provisions concerning the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) or any other nanotechnology related provisions. It is possible that during debate, the bill may be amended to include provisions for NNI. It is also possible that, during debate, the language of H.R. 5116 may be substituted for the language of S. 3605, in the form of an amendment in the nature of a substitute. The Senate may also substitute the language of S. 3605 for that of H.R. 5116 and pass an amended version of H.R. 5116. Should that happen, the bill would be sent back to the House for its concurrence to the Senate amendment. Should the House vote not to concur, a conference committee would be established to produce a version that both the House and Senate could agree on.

Time is a factor in the passage of the bills. Congress will soon adjourn for the August recess and is expected to remain adjourned until after the November elections.

As with other House and Senate bills affecting nanotechnology, we will monitor and report the progress of S. 3605.

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Today's Federal Register carries a notice of a public meeting on Tuesday March 30th and Wednesday March 31st 2010 to be held at the Holiday Inn Rosslyn-Key Bridge in Arlington Virginia .

The meeting will be a workshop designed "to provide an open forum to discuss the state-of-the-art of the science related to environmental, health, and safety aspects of nanomaterials
in two areas: Risk Management Methods and Ethical, Legal, and Societal
Implications (ELSI) of Nanotechnology."

Registration is required to attend the workshop and information on how to register is available in the notice. Anyone wishing to present 3-5 minutes of public comments also needs to register. Written or electronic comments must be submitted via e-mail at capstone@nnco.nano.gov until April 30, 2010. Written comments can also be mailed to Capstone Workshop, c/o NNCO,
4201 Wilson Blvd., Stafford II, Suite 405, Arlington, VA 22230.
 

Those unable to attend the workshop in person can view the main sessions via webcast. The draft agenda for the workshop is below. Among the invited speakers and guest is John Monica, a partner in Porter Wright's DC office. Further information about the workshop is available on the National Nanotechnology Initiative website.

Schedule and Agenda

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