Mihail C. Roco Lecture

New Frontiers for Nanotechnology

Mihail C. Roco, Ph.D.
Senior Advisor for Nanotechnology
National Science Foundation
A key architect of the National Nanotechnology Initiative

Thursday, September 20, 2007
3:30-4:30 p.m.
Student Union Theatre Room (Room 201/106)
NORTH CAMPUS

Reception with refreshments to start at 3:00

About the Speaker: Dr. Roco is credited with thirteen patents and contributed over two hundred papers and fifteen books, including "Nanotechnology: Societal Implications - Maximizing Benefits to Humanity" (Springer, 2006) and “Managing Nano-Bio-Info-Cogno Innovations” (Springer, 2007). Under his stewardship the nanotechnology federal investment has increased from about $3 million to $1.3 billion in 2006. Dr. Roco is a corresponding member of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences and a member of the International Risk Governance Council. He is a Fellow of ASME, AIChE and Institute of Physics, and was elected as Engineer of the Year by the U.S. Society of Professional Engineers and NSF in 1999 and again in 2004. Dr. Roco coordinated the preparation of the U.S. National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) reports on "Nanotechnology Research Directions" (NSTC, 1999) and "National Nanotechnology Initiative" (NSTC, 2000).

Abstract: In this lecture I will discuss the genesis of the National Nanotechnology Initiative in the U.S., its current outcomes and likely evolution. The U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) is a long-term R&D program announced in January 2000 that coordinates 27 federal departments and independent agencies with a total budget of about $1.4 billion in fiscal year 2007. For the next five years, new priorities are envisioned in exploratory research for nanomedicine, energy conversion, food and agriculture, realistic simulations at the nanoscale, molecular nanosystems, and improving human potential.

Nanoscience and nanotechnology have opened an era of integration of fundamental research and engineering from the atomic and molecular levels. It has increased technological innovation, and an enabling base for improving human health and long term cognitive abilities. The rudimentary capabilities of nanotechnology today are envisioned to evolve into four overlapping generations of new nanotechnology products: passive nanostructures, active nanostructures, systems of nanosystems, and molecular nanosystems. This public lecture briefly explores scientific and technological frontiers. The balance between the promised benefits and measures to address possible undesirable effects is discussed. The general risks associated with nanotechnology applications and the deficits of the risk governance process today will be addressed. I will conclude with possible approaches for a global nanotechnology governance.