Nanotechnology Research Directions Iwgn Workshop Report Vision For Nanotechnology R D In The Next Decade

energy production, environmental management, transportation, communication, computation, and education. As the twenty-first century unfolds, nanotechnology's impact on the health, wealth, and security of the world's people is expected to be at least as significant as the combined influences in this century of antibiotics, the integrated circuit, and human-made polymers. Dr. Neal Lane, Advisor to the President for Science and Technology and former National Science Foundation (NSF) director, stated at a Congressional hearing in April 1998, "If I were asked for an area of science and engineering that will most likely produce the breakthroughs of tomorrow, I would point to nanoscale science and engineering. " Recognizing this potential, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have issued a joint memorandum to Federal agency heads that identifies nanotechnology as a research priority area for Federal investment in fiscal year 2001. This report charts "Nanotechnology Research Directions," as developed by the Interagency W orking Group on Nano Science, Engineering, and Technology (IWGN) of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). The report incorporates the views of leading experts from government, academia, and the private sector. It reflects the consensus reached at an IWGN-sponsored workshop held on January 27-29, 1999, and detailed in contributions submitted thereafter by members of the V. S. science and engineering community. (See Appendix A for a list of contributors.

Nanotechnology is the creation and utilization of materials, devices, and systems through the control of matter on the nanometer-length scale, that is, at the level of atoms, molecules, and supramolecular structures. The essence of nanotechnology is the ability to work at these levels to generate larger structures with fundamentally new molecular organization. These "nanostructures," made with building blocks understood from first principles, are the smallest human-made objects, and they exhibit novel physical, chemical, and biological properties and phenomena. The aim of nanotechnology is to learn to exploit these properties and efficiently manufacture and employ the structures. Control of matter on the nanoscale already plays an important role in scientific disciplines as diverse as physics, chemistry, materials science, biology, medicine, engineering, and computer simulation. For example, it has been shown that carbon nanotubes are ten times as strong as steel with one sixth of the weight, and that nanoparticles can target and kill cancer cells. Nanoscale systems have the potential to make supersonic transport cost- effective and to increase computer efficiency by millions of times. As understanding develops of the way natural and living systems are governed by molecular behavior at nanometer scale, and as this understanding begins to be felt in science and medicine, researchers seek systematic approaches for nanoscale-based manufacturing of human- made products.

This volume presents a comprehensive perspective on the global scientific, technological, and societal impact of nanotechnology since 2000, and explores the opportunities and research directions in the next decade to 2020. The vision for the future of nanotechnology presented here draws on scientific insights from U.S. experts in the field, examinations of lessons learned, and international perspectives shared by participants from 35 countries in a series of high-level workshops organized by Mike Roco of the National Science Foundation (NSF), along with a team of American co-hosts that includes Chad Mirkin, Mark Hersam, Evelyn Hu, and several other eminent U.S. scientists. The study performed in support of the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) aims to redefine the R&D goals for nanoscale science and engineering integration and to establish nanotechnology as a general-purpose technology in the next decade. It intends to provide decision makers in academia, industry, and government with a nanotechnology community perspective of productive and responsible paths forward for nanotechnology R&D.

Biosensors Based on Nanomaterials and Nanodevices links interdisciplinary research from leading experts to provide graduate students, academics, researchers, and industry professionals alike with a comprehensive source for key advancements and future trends in nanostructured biosensor development. It describes the concepts, principles, materials, device fabrications, functions, system integrations, and applications of various types of biosensors based on signal transduction mechanisms, including fluorescence, photonic crystal, surface-enhanced Raman scattering, electrochemistry, electro-luminescence, field-effect transistor, and magnetic effect. The book: Explains how to utilize the unique properties of nanomaterials to construct nanostructured biosensors to achieve enhanced performance Features examples of biosensors based on both typical and emerging nanomaterials, such as gold nanoparticles, quantum dots, graphene, graphene oxides, magnetic nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, inorganic nanowires/nanorods, plasmonic nanostructures, and photonic crystals Demonstrates the broad applications of nanostructured biosensors in environmental monitoring, food safety, industrial quality assurance, and in vitro and in vivo health diagnosis Inspires new ideas for tackling multiscale and multidisciplinary issues in developing high-performance biosensors for complex practical biomedical problems Focusing on the connection between nanomaterials research and biosensor development, Biosensors Based on Nanomaterials and Nanodevices illustrates the exciting possibilities and critical challenges of biosensors based on nanomaterials and nanodevices for future health monitoring, disease diagnosis, therapeutic treatments, and beyond.

This study examines findings from a 4-year-long ethnography of communication among a research university’s community of scientists and engineers working in nanoscience and nanotechnology. It includes analysis of 20 in-depth interviews with scientists and engineers from 18 different disciplines self-identified as working in nanoscale science and engineering. Using multiple methods of inquiry, including fieldwork, interviews, and textual analysis, elements of a shared speech code are presented, each of which indicate culturally distinctive understandings of psychology, sociology and rhetoric. In particular, the interview data addresses questions such as “What kind of person is a scientist?” “What is the role of science in society?” and “What is the role of communication in science?” This book will appeal to readers interested in science and society, scientific communication, and ethnography of communication.

Nanoscale science and technology, often referred to as "nanoscience" or "nanotechnology," are science and engineering enabled by our relatively new ability to manipulate and characterize matter at the level of single atoms and small groups of atoms. This capability is the result of many developments in the last two decades of the 20th century, including inventions of scientific instruments like the scanning tunneling microscope. Using such tools, scientists and engineers have begun controlling the structure and properties of materials and systems at the scale of 10?9 meters, or 1/100,000 the width of a human hair. Scientists and engineers anticipate that nanoscale work will enable the development of materials and systems with dramatic new properties relevant to virtually every sector of the economy, such as medicine, telecommunications, and computers, and to areas of national interest such as homeland security. Indeed, early products based on nanoscale technology have already found their way into the marketplace and into defense applications. In 1996, as the tremendous scientific and economic potential of nanoscale science and technology was beginning to be recognized, a federal interagency working group formed to consider creation of a national nanotechnology initiative (NNI). As a result of this effort, around $1 billion has been directed toward NNI research since the start of FY 2001. At the request of officials in the White House National Economic Council and agencies that are participating in NNI, the National Research Council (NRC) agreed to review the NNI. The Committee for the Review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative was formed by the NRC and asked to consider topics such as the current research portfolio of the NNI, the suitability of federal investments, and interagency coordination efforts in this area.

Interdisciplinary research centers are blooming in almost every university, and interdisciplinary research is expected to be a cure-all for the ills of academic science. Do disciplines still matter? To what extent are interdisciplinary problem-solving approaches driven by socioeconomic stakeholders and policymakers rather than by academics? And how is interdisciplinarity organized? Through an in-depth sociological study of the development of nanomedicine in France and in the United States – an area that combines nanotechnology and biomedical research – this book challenges two conventional views of interdisciplinary research and academic disciplines. First, disciplines do not merely form separate "siloes" which hinder the development of interdisciplinary research: rather, they are flexible entities whose evolution supports the long-term institutionalization of interdisciplinary science in French and US academia. Secondly, interdisciplinary research has no intrinsic virtue: its ability to respond to societal issues and advance knowledge depends on continued political support and long-term cooperation between stakeholders. Interdisciplinarity might also be threatened by oversold promises and struggles for recognition. A study of the many challenges facing the formation of creative and sustainable interdisciplinary scientific communities, The Policies and Politics of Interdisciplinary Research tackles vivid debates among academics and research managers and will appeal to scholars of sociology, science and technology studies and science policy.

This book provides a summary of the state-of-art knowledge on nanomaterials and nanoparticles. It examines toxicological issues, risk assessment and control measures, public participation and educational/ethical issues, as well as institutional mechanisms and status reports from various countries. Coverage also details collaborations in the field of nanotechnology regarding safe application and development.