Credits: Wei Qu, Northwestern University, simulation cartoons; Xuan Jiang, Johns Hopkins University, microscopic images.

Nanoparticle-based research remains at the forefront of nanoscale approaches to targeted drug delivery and gene therapy (see related posts highlighting achievements in targeting specificity and enhanced delivery owed to high nanoparticle surface area). Recently reprinted by KurzweilAI.net, a news release from Johns Hopkins University entitled “Scientists Discover That Shape Matters in DNA Nanoparticle Therapy” describes the new findings, in which researchers from JHU and Northwestern University developed a set of DNA-copolymer nanoparticles that differ significantly in shape and in transfection efficiency.

The shapes were achieved first by mixing solutions of DNA and copolymer under varying solvent polarity conditions, allowing the micellar nanoparticles to adopt preferred configurations. The resulting shapes were similar to those observed in viral particles, with a worm-like shape predominating at higher polarities (i.e. higher water ratios). A reversible disulfide crosslinking method was then used to replicate the shapes under aqueous conditions, using cryo-TEM imaging to verify shape fidelity.

Notably, molecular dynamics simulations were conducted to model the shape transitions, providing experimentalists with time-saving predictive power.

“Our computer simulations and theoretical model have provided a mechanistic understanding, identifying what is responsible for this shape change,” Luijten said. “We now can predict precisely how to choose the nanoparticle components if one wants to obtain a certain shape. The use of computer models allowed Luijten’s team to mimic traditional lab experiments at a far faster pace.

In rat liver, the worm-like shapes, with average length of 581 nm, showed the highest gene expression, over 1,600-fold higher than that observed for spherical shapes of approximately 40 nm diameter.

While the variation in particle size may have an impact, co-corresponding author Hai-Quan Mao of JHU notes that the range of particles are similar in volume and weight, with fixed amounts of DNA. The full study, published in Advanced Materials, can be viewed in advance on line.
-Posted by Stephanie C

Established in 1993 in honor of Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman, two $5,000 prizes are awarded in two categories, theory and experiment, to recognize researchers whose recent work has most advanced the field toward the achievement of Feynman’s vision for nanotechnology: molecular manufacturing, the construction of atomically-precise products through the use of molecular machine systems.

The winner of the 2010 Feynman Prize for Experimental work is Masakazu Aono (MANA Center, National Institute for Materials Science, Japan) in recognition of his pioneering and continuing work, including research into the manipulation of atoms, the multiprobe STM and AFM, the atomic switch, and single-molecule-level chemical control including ultradense molecular data storage and molecular wiring; and his inspiration of an entire generation of researchers who have made their own ground-breaking contributions to nanotechnology.

The winner of the 2010 Feynman Prize for Theory is Gustavo E. Scuseria (Rice University) for his development of quantum mechanical methods and computational programs that make it possible to carry out accurate theoretical predictions of molecules and solids, and their application to the chemical and electronic properties of carbon nanostructures.

“The answer to Feynman’s 1959 question ‘What would happen if we could arrange the atoms one by one the way we want them…’ has come a step closer to reality,” said Ralph C. Merkle, Chairman of the Foresight Institute Feynman Prize Committee. “Our ability to simulate and manipulate atoms will enable us to design and build engineered molecular machinery. This coming nanotechnology revolution will transform our world and our lives for the better.”

The annual Feynman Prizes are leading to the eventual awarding of the $250,000 Feynman Grand Prize, an incentive prize for making a nanometer-scale robotic arm and a nanometer-scale computing device, the most critical components in future molecular manufacturing systems.

For more information about the Feynman Prizes in Nanotechnology, visit http://www.foresight.org/about/fi_spons.html or contact Christine Peterson, peterson@foresight.org, tel +1 (650) 289-0860, ext 255.

Today, Research and Science Education Subcommittee Chairman Dan Lipinski (IL-03) expressed his strong support for the National Nanotechnology Initiative’s draft Strategic Plan, in particular its focus on ensuring that America’s substantial investment in nanotech research and development is turned into new companies, products, and jobs.

“I firmly believe that nanotechnology has enormous potential to create domestic jobs, and as a result I strongly support the draft strategy’s emphasis on technology transfer and commercialization,” Congressman Lipinski stated in a letter to John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. “Over the past decade the NNI agencies have invested billions of dollars in nanotech research, and as a result we have seen tremendous advancements in materials science and engineering. But we cannot afford to let these discoveries follow the unfortunate pattern of American innovations turning into products manufactured in China or Japan. The proposals in this draft are a good first step toward avoiding this problem and creating the kind of good-paying high-tech jobs we need.”

Nanotechnology has the potential to have a transformative effect on numerous fields, and in some cases is already beginning to realize that potential. In medicine, it could lead to devices able to detect cancer in its early stages. In the clean energy industry, it is reducing the cost of solar panels and increasing the efficiency of batteries for alternative-fuel vehicles. In information technology, it is needed to enable continued increases in processor speeds. And in manufacturing, exceptionally strong, light, and durable nanomaterials can be used to improve existing products and create new ones. Nanotechnology involves manipulating materials as small as a single nanometer. A sheet of paper is about 100,000 nanometers thick.

In his letter, Congressman Lipinski commends the draft Strategic Plan’s proposal to double federal investment in nanomanufacturing research and increase public-private partnerships that can boost commercialization. In addition, he applauds the plan’s three Signature Initiatives, especially the sustainable nanomanufacturing initiative. Since nanotechnology’s promise can only be fulfilled if suitable manufacturing processes are developed, this initiative aims to develop industrial-scale, safe, and environmentally sustainable methods for manufacturing nanodevices for a variety of applications.

“After a decade that saw American manufacturers shed 5.6 million jobs, we must seize the opportunity to revitalize this critical sector by translating nanotechnology research into jobs and economic growth,” Congressman Lipinski said. “In my home state of Illinois, research performed at the state’s eight NNI-supported Centers of Excellence has helped lead to a variety of startups with names like Nanosphere, Nanophase, NanoInk, and Nanotope. But there’s no doubt we need to accelerate commercialization, and I’m pleased that the Strategic Plan takes that obligation seriously. With the right vision and the right execution, I’m convinced nanotechnology will be the foundation of the next industrial revolution.”

One of the few members of Congress who holds an engineering degree, Congressman Lipinski wrote a bill reauthorizing the National Science Foundation; cosponsored and helped pass in the House last year the National Nanotechnology Initiative Amendments Act, which would have reauthorized the NNI; and this year helped pass in the House the America COMPETES Act, which includes both pieces of legislation. He is also a strong supporter of domestic manufacturing, having authored the National Manufacturing Strategy Act, H.R. 4692, which passed the House in July with bipartisan support.

The NNI coordinates nanotech research across 25 federal agencies and has helped create a network of state-of-the-art nanoscale research centers. It is required to produce periodic Strategic Plans outlining its vision, goals, and R&D investment strategy.

(December 6, 2010)

A*STAR’s Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) partners 10 EU research organisations to work on the groundbreaking €10 million ATMOL project that lays the foundation for creating and testing a molecular-sized processor chip.

A*STAR’s IMRE and 10 EU research organisations are working together to build what is essentially a single molecule processor chip. As a comparison, a thousand of such molecular chips could fit into one of today’s microchips, the core device that determines computational speed. The ambitious project, termed Atomic Scale and Single Molecule Logic Gate Technologies (ATMOL), will establish a new process for making a complete molecular chip. This means that computing power can be increased significantly but take up only a small fraction of the space that is required by today’s standards.

The fabrication process involves the use of three unique ultra high vacuum (UHV) atomic scale interconnection machines which build the chip atom-by-atom. These machines physically move atoms into place one at a time at cryogenic temperatures. One of these machines is located in A*STAR’s IMRE.

“IMRE holds the only patent in the world for making solid interconnections and packaging of a molecular chip”, says Prof Christian Joachim, who is leading the entire project, explaining the reason A*STAR’s IMRE was chosen as a partner in this groundbreaking project.

“The UHV interconnection machine at IMRE is the only one in the entire project that can study the performance of a single molecule logic gate and surface atom circuit logic gate at the moment”, added Prof Joachim, who is the Head of Molecular Nanoscience and Picotechnology at the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and a Visiting Investigator at IMRE. Prof Joachim’s team in IMRE is one of the pioneers in atom technology, having built the world’s first controllable molecular gear.

“The work in this project is extremely important in setting the stage for how computer chips and electronics may be made in the future”, said Prof Andy Hor, Executive Director of IMRE. “The fact that we are the only non-EU research organisation in this project speaks volumes about the level of Singapore’s research and how far we have come in building our R&D capabilities”.

According to Dr. David Guedj, the European Officer following ATMOL for The European Commission, “ATMOL is the flagship project coming out of the recent Call for Proposals on Molecular Scale Devices and Systems”. It was launched by the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET-Proactive) part of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) programme of the European Commission. FET-Proactive supports transformational, long-term collaborative frontier research in Europe, with a view to develop scientific excellence and technological innovation.

As part of the project, annual ATMOL conferences will be held to bring together all project partners for progress updates. The inaugural conference will be hosted by Singapore next year. The project will officially commence on 1 January 2011.

Credit to Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence News.

Singularity Summit 2010 in San Francisco to Explore Intelligence Augmentation

Speakers include Futurist Ray Kurzweil, Magician-Skeptic James Randi

Will it be one day become possible to boost human intelligence using brain implants, or create an artificial intelligence smarter than Einstein? In a 1993 paper presented to NASA, science fiction author and mathematician Vernor Vinge called such a hypothetical event a “Singularity”, saying “From the human point of view this change will be a throwing away of all the previous rules, perhaps in the blink of an eye”. Vinge pointed out that intelligence enhancement could lead to “closing the loop” between intelligence and technology, creating a positive feedback effect.

This August 14-15, hundreds of AI researchers, robotics experts, philosophers, entrepreneurs, scientists, and interested laypeople will converge in San Francisco to address the Singularity and related issues at the only conference on the topic, the Singularity Summit. Experts in fields including animal intelligence, artificial intelligence, brain-computer interfacing, tissue regeneration, medical ethics, computational neurobiology, augmented reality, and more will share their latest research and explore its implications for the future of humanity.

“This year, the conference shifts to a focus on neuroscience, bioscience, cognitive enhancement, and other explorations of what Vernor Vinge called ‘intelligence amplification’ — the other route to the Singularity,” said Michael Vassar, president of the Singularity Institute, which is hosting the event.

Irene Pepperberg, author of “Alex & Me,” who has pushed the frontier of animal intelligence with her research on African Gray Parrots, will explore the ethical and practical implications of non-human intelligence enhancement and of the creation of new intelligent life less powerful than ourselves. Futurist-inventor Ray Kurzweil will discuss reverse-engineering the brain and his forthcoming book, How the Mind Works and How to Build One. Allan Synder, Director, Centre for the Mind at the University of Sydney, will explore the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation for the enhancement of narrow cognitive abilities. Joe Tsien will talk about the smarter rats and mice that he created by tuning the molecular substrate of the brain’s learning mechanism. Steve Mann, “the world’s first cyborg,” will demonstrate his latest geek-chic inventions: wearable computers now used by almost 100,000 people.

Other speakers will include magician-skeptic and MacArthur Genius Award winner James Randi; Gregory Stock (Redesigning Humans), former Director of the Program on Medicine, Technology, and Society at UCLA’s School of Public Health; Terry Sejnowski, Professor and Laboratory Head, Salk Institute Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, who believes we are just ten years away from being able to upload ourselves; Ellen Heber-Katz, Professor, Molecular and Cellular Oncogenesis Program at The Wistar Institute, who is investigating the molecular basis of wound regeneration in mutant mice, which can regenerate limbs, hearts, and spinal cords; Anita Goel, MD, physicist, and CEO of nanotechnology company Nanobiosym; and David Hanson, Founder & CEO, Hanson Robotics, who is creating the world’s most realistic humanoid robots.

Interested readers can watch videos from past summits and register at www.singularitysummit.com.

Hope to talk with you there!  (Full disclosure: I am an SIAI advisor.)  —Chris Peterson

Zyvex Labs today announced the award of a $9.7M program funded by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) and Texas’ ETF (Emerging Technology Fund). The goal of this effort is to develop a new manufacturing technique that enables “Tip-Based Nanofabrication” to accelerate the transition of nanotechnology from the laboratory to commercial products. Starting with the construction of ‘one-at-a-time’ atomically precise silicon structures, the Consortium initially plans to develop atomically precise, ‘quantum dot’ nanotech-based products in volume at practical production rates and costs. Harnessing this capability will position the United States and Texas with the fundamental technology to develop next-generation quantum dot applications for military and commercial applications such as advanced communications, metrology, and quantum computers. The spin-off nanomanufacturing capabilities from that early application will result in revolutionary nanotech products in follow-on development.

…”We are extremely proud to receive this award,” said John Randall, Ph.D., Vice President of Zyvex Labs and Principal Investigator for the APMC research program. “The technologies developed by this program will be the first to allow robust three-dimensional solid structures to be created with atomic precision under computer control. While, historically, this falls in line with ongoing efforts throughout human history to improve manufacturing precision, it is revolutionary because it will achieve unprecedented precision by taking advantage of the quantized nature of matter.”

“DARPA is investing in breakthrough approaches to nanomanufacturing. Our goal is to develop the capability to fabricate nanostructures in such a way that we can control position, size, shape and orientation at the nanometer scale, which is not possible today,” said Tom Kenny, DARPA Program Manager. “If we can demonstrate this, we will be able to truly unlock the potential capabilities of nanotechnology.”

Coming only two months after the announcement that a UK laboratory was awarded $3M to investigate the possibility of diamond mechanosynthesis, the announcement that $9.7M has been awarded to a US consortium for atomically precise manufacturing is indeed welcome news for nanotech enthusiasts—especially for advocates of advanced nanotechnology, alternatively termed molecular manufacturing or productive nanosystems. Read the entire Zyvex Labs press release. Zyvex Labs is one of several companies formed from the April 2007 reorganization of Zyvex Corporation. John Randall was a member of the Steering Committee for the Technology Roadmap for Productive Nanosystems and spoke at the conference a year ago that launched the roadmap. He also contributed several papers to the Working Group Proceedings (210 pages, 14.6 MB PDF). The main part of Productive Nanosystems: A Technology Roadmap (198 pages, 2.1 MB PDF) is also available and provides a wide overview of the challenges and opportunities of atomically precise manufacturing.
—Jim

Paul Saffo, a Silicon Valley forecaster with over two decades experience exploring long-term technological change and its practical impact on business and society, will keynote the event. About Convergence08 he observed, “A host of technologies that seemed like daring science fiction just a few years ago are racing toward practical application with breathtaking speed. Convergence08 is a unique opportunity to look into the coming NBIC future, examine its implications and prepare for the vast surprises in store for us all.”

Both days feature debates on controversial NBIC topics including Synthetic Biology, Longevity, and Artificial Intelligence. Dr. Barney Pell, founder of Powerset and search strategist & evangelist at Microsoft, stated, “At this event we aim to use the power of collective intelligence to see farther along the convergence trajectories — each of the NBIC technologies is transformative on its own, and there’s a strong interplay among them.”

Debaters include:

• Dr. Bruce Ames, biochemistry professor at UC Berkeley, founder of Juvenon
• Dr. Chris Anderson, bioengineering professor at UC Berkeley
• Dr. Gregory Benford, physics professor at UC Irvine, founder Genescient
• Denise Caruso, executive director of Hybrid Vigor Institute
• Dr. Aubrey de Grey, chairman of The Methuselah Foundation
• Dr. Ben Goertzel, CEO of Novamente, chair of AGIRI
• Terry Grossman, MD, co-author, Fantastic Voyage
• Andrew Hessel, consulting biologist and author
• Dr. Chris Heward, president of Kronos Science Laboratories
• Dr. Peter Norvig, director of research at Google
• Dr. Steve Omohundro, founder and president of Self-Aware Systems
• Dr. Barney Pell, founder of Powerset, search strategist at Microsoft

Registration details available at http://www.convergence08.org/registration.

About Convergence08:

Sponsored by organizations focused on cutting edge technologies, Convergence08 will bring together an eclectic mix of visionaries, entrepreneurs, scientists, technologists, and independent thinkers in general to merge their distributed knowledge into an improved view of where the NBIC revolutions are taking us, how to maximize benefits to humanity and the environment, and how to minimize any downsides.

Convergence08 Supporting Organizations are Foresight Nanotech Institute, Humanity+, ImmInst.org, Long Now Foundation, Methuselah Foundation, and the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence. Cooperating Organizations include Acceleration Studies Foundation, CyBeRev, the Millennium Project, and Reason Foundation. Corporate Sponsors include eStitch and SciVestor.

For more information, contact Alicia Isaac, 650-289-0860 ext 254, or email alicia@foresight.org.

—Jim

It is with great pleasure that we announce the availability of the first Technology Roadmap for Productive Nanosystems.

Some of you have seen earlier drafts, but the document is now official. Files can be downloaded at: http://foresight.org/roadmaps

Below is the text of the press release going out today.

We look forward to your reactions and suggestions for additions and corrections for later versions.

Thanks to everyone who helped, including all Foresight members — your donations have helped complete this first version of a Roadmap for atomically-precise manufacturing!

Best wishes,
Chris

Christine Peterson
Co-founder and Vice President
Foresight Nanotech Institute
+1 650 289 0860 ext 255

===================================================

PRESS RELEASE

FROM HERE TO THERE: NANOTECHNOLOGY ROADMAP
Foresight Nanotech Institute and Battelle Unveil a Technology Roadmap for Productive Nanosystems

Menlo Park, CA – January 29, 2008 – The potential for nanotechnology to “build molecule-by-molecule” has been greatly discussed with one question invariably being asked: How do we get from here to there?

Foresight Nanotech Institute, a leading nanotechnology think tank and public interest organization, and Battelle, a leading global research and development organization, have officially unveiled “Productive Nanosystems: A Technology Roadmap.” Productive nanosystems are molecular-scale systems that make other useful materials and devices that are nanostructured.

This Technology Roadmap for Productive Nanosystems is a first attempt to map out the R&D pathways across multiple disciplines to achieve atomically precise manufacturing. For the past three years, working groups comprised of over 70 research scientists, nanotechnology theorists, and business leaders have collaborated to create a common framework for understanding and defining these pathways.

The working groups also identified the challenges that must be overcome in the developing these systems and the applications that they can address. The Roadmap provides a structure for formulating research and commercialization agendas for achieving atomically precise manufacturing. The intended audiences for the Roadmap include governments, corporations, research institutions, investors, economic development organizations, public policy professionals, educators, and the media.

“For the first time, progress across all key nanoscale disciplines has been brought together into R&D pathways leading to atomically-precise manufacturing, with revolutionary applications to medicine, smart materials, and energy,” said Jim Von Ehr, Founder and chief executive officer of Zyvex Labs, Foresight Board of Directors member, and Roadmap Steering Committee member. “We look forward to hearing from technologists in industry, academia, and government on their thoughts about this roadmap, and their suggestions for improvement in the next version.”

Available free of charge at the Foresight Nanotech Institute website, the Roadmap for Productive Nanosystems features an Executive Summary that can be readily understood by those new to nanotechnology. The main document is organized in three sections.

The first section, titled The Road Map, introduces Atomic Precision and explains the What, Why, and How. The other parts in this section discuss Atomically Precise Manufacturing; Atomically Precise Components and Systems; Modeling, Design, and Characterization; and Applications. There is also an Agenda for Research and a Call to Action.

The second section of the Nanotechnology Roadmap, titled Topics in Detail, discusses specific components and devices, systems and frameworks, fabrication and synthesis methods, and modeling, design, and characterization. The final section, titled Working Group Proceedings, covers atomically precise fabrication and nanoscale manufacturing processes.

“Battelle is very pleased to be a partner on this critical pioneering nanotechnology project,” said Alex Kawczak, Vice President of Nanostructured Materials and BioProducts at Battelle. “The advancement of nanotechnology is a highly collaborative endeavor that requires complex cooperation across disciplines. The roadmap provides the foundation needed for this cooperation as research moves towards atomically precise manufacturing to meet the needs of industrial and government markets.”

The Roadmap project was made possible through grants to the Foresight Nanotech Institute by the Waitt Family Foundation (founding sponsor) and Sun Microsystems, with direct support from Nanorex, Zyvex Labs, and Synchrona. Working group meetings were hosted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, in cooperation with Battelle Memorial Institute.

Who was involved:
The steering committee included: Paul Alivisatos, Chancellor’s Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science, University of California, Berkeley, and Director, Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Pearl Chin, Research Fellow, Foresight Nanotech Institute; K. Eric Drexler, Chief Technical Advisor, Nanorex; Doon Gibbs, Deputy Director for Science and Technology, Brookhaven National Laboratory; William Goddard III, Charles and Mary Ferkel Professor of Chemistry, Materials Science, and Applied Physics and Director, Materials and Process Simulation Center, California Institute of Technology; William A. Haseltine, President, William A. Haseltine Foundation for Medical Sciences and the Arts; Steve Jurvetson, Managing Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson; Alex Kawczak, Vice President-Nanostructured Materials and BioProducts, Battelle; Charles M. Lieber, Professor, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University; Christine Peterson, co-Founder and Vice President, Foresight Nanotech Institute; John Randall, Chief Technology Officer, Zyvex; Jim Roberto, Chief Research Officer and Deputy Laboratory Director, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Nadrian Seeman, Margaret and Herman Sokol Professor of Chemistry, New York University; Rick Snyder, Chairman and CEO, Ardesta; and J. Fraser Stoddart, Board of Trustees Professor of Chemistry, Northwestern University; and Ted Waitt, Chairman of Avalon Capital Group and The Waitt Family Foundation. This committee guided the development of the Roadmap.

The project has been aided by a select group of industry and technical organizations. These include the SPIE–International Society of Optical Engineers; SEMI, the leading global industry association for equipment, materials and service companies enabling micro- and nano-scale manufacturing; the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the leading power industry research organization; and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), the world’s leading professional society supporting manufacturing education.

For more Roadmap information:
http://foresight.org/roadmaps

About Foresight Nanotech Institute
Foresight Nanotech Institute is a leading think tank and public interest organization focused on nanotechnology. Founded in 1986, our mission is to ensure the beneficial implementation of nanotechnology. Focusing on the six Foresight Nanotechnology Challenges, Foresight provides balanced, accurate and timely information to help society understand nanotechnology through publications, R&D guidelines, public policy activities, prizes, conferences, discussion forums, and networking events.
For more information about Foresight Nanotech Institute:
http://www.foresight.org

About Battelle
Battelle is the world’s largest non-profit independent research and development organization, providing innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing needs through its four global businesses: Laboratory Management, National Security, Energy Science and Technology, and Health and Life Sciences. It advances scientific discovery and application by conducting $4 billion in global R&D annually through contract research, laboratory management and technology commercialization. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Battelle oversees 20,400 employees in more than 120 locations worldwide, including seven national laboratories which Battelle manages or co-manages for the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Battelle also is one of the nation’s leading charitable trusts focusing on societal and economic impact and actively supporting and promoting science and math education. For more information visit www.battelle.org or contact Media Relations Manager Katy Delaney at 410-306-8638 or at delaneyk@battelle.org.

About The Waitt Family Foundation – Helping Good People do Great Things
The Waitt Family Foundation was established by Gateway Founder Ted Waitt in 1993 and is headquartered in La Jolla, California. The Foundation is affiliated with two institutes formed by Waitt: the Institute for Discovery and the Institute for Violence Prevention. For more information about The Waitt Family Foundation and its related institutes:
http://www.waittfoundation.org

Nanotechnology Think Tank Honors Top Researchers, Author and Student

Palo Alto, CA – October 9, 2007 – Foresight Nanotech Institute, the leading think tank and public interest organization focused on nanotechnology, awarded prizes to leaders in research, communication and study in the field of nanotechnology at the Productive Nanosystems Conference, being held today in Arlington, Virginia. These prizes are conferred on individuals whose work in research, communication and study are moving our society towards the ultimate goal of atomically-precise manufacturing.

The 2007 Foresight Institute Feynman Prizes, named in honor of pioneer physicist Richard Feynman, are given in two categories, one for experimental work and the other for theory in advances in nanotechnology. This year the Theory Prize was won by David Leigh of University of Edinburgh, UK, and the Experimental Prize went to Fraser Stoddart of UCLA.

The Foresight Prize in Communication was presented to nanotechnology author and theorist Robert A Freitas Jr. A Rice University graduate student, Fung-Suong Ou, received the Distinguished Student Prize.

“This year’s winning research illustrates the great strides toward productive nanosystems now taking place throughout the world,” said Dr. Pearl Chin, President of Foresight Nanotech Institute. “The goal of manufacturing with atomic precision advances daily, and we can expect even faster progress building on the work being honored today.”

Foresight Institute Feynman Prizes – Experimental and Theory

Winning in the Experimental category for 2007 is J. Fraser Stoddart, Fred Kavli Professor of NanoSystems Sciences, UCLA, and former Director of the California NanoSystems Institute, who has pioneered the synthesis and assembly of unique active molecular machines for manufacturing into practical nanoscale devices. His many accomplishments in synthetic chemistry have produced functional molecular machines, in particular a ‘molecular muscle’ for the purposes of amplifying and harnessing molecular mechanical motions, that may ultimately lead to the construction of atomically-precise products through the use of molecular machine systems.

This year’s winner in the Theory category, David A. Leigh of University of Edinburgh, is the world’s foremost pioneer on the design and synthesis of artificial molecular motors and machines from first principles and one of the most dynamic and innovative chemists of his generation, focusing on the construction of molecular machine systems that function in the realm of Brownian motion. Leigh’s theoretical studies of synthetic molecular motors and machines contribute an important element toward the development of molecular machine systems capable of atomically-precise fabrication.

Foresight Institute Prize in Communication

The 2007 Communication prizewinner — Robert A. Freitas Jr., a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing — is best known for Nanomedicine, the definitive book on the medical applications of molecular nanotechnology and available in its entirety at www.nanomedicine.com; and Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines, the foundational description of system architectures for molecular nanotechnology, available at www.molecularassembler.com. With almost 100 technical papers, book chapters, or popular articles he is one of the most prolific authors in the field of molecular nanotechnology.

Foresight Institute Distinguished Student Prize

Fung Suong Ou is a Ph.D. candidate now at Rice University who has demonstrated that it is possible to use a combinatorial approach to build nanowires from dissimilar components. Specifically, he has fabricated multi-segmented one-dimensional hybrid structures composed of carbon nanotubes and metal nanowires.

About Foresight Nanotech Institute

Foresight Nanotech Institute is the leading public interest organization in nanotechnology. Foresight was founded in 1986 to promote and accelerate the development of nanotechnology that is good for people and the planet through public education, research prizes, public policy advocacy and programs promoting beneficial nanotechnology. Scientists, academics, engineers, business, governments and the public turn to Foresight for balanced, accurate, and timely information provided through its publications, public policy activities, roadmaps, prizes, and conferences.

For further information, contact Alicia Isaac, +1 650 289 0860 Ext 254, Alicia@foresight.org.

Top Nanotechnology Researchers to be Honored at Productive Nanosystems Conference, October 9-10

Palo Alto, CA — September 5, 2007 – Foresight Nanotech Institute, a leading think tank and public interest organization focused on nanotechnology, announced the finalists for the 2007 Foresight Institute Feynman Prizes. These prestigious prizes, named in honor of pioneer physicist Richard Feynman, are given in two categories, one for experiment and the other for theory in nanotechnology. Established in 1993, these prizes honor researchers whose recent work has most advanced the achievement of Feynman’s goal for nanotechnology: the construction of atomically-precise products through the use of productive nanosystems.

“The Foresight Institute Feynman Prizes recognize the world’s highest achievements toward nanotechnology’s goal of building with atomic precision,” said Dr. Pearl Chin, President of Foresight Nanotech Institute. “The Productive Nanosystems Conference will honor this work and present a roadmap leading forward to this ultimate manufacturing capability, with commercial applications driving R&D at each step along the pathway.”

The winners of this year’s prizes will be announced at the Feynman Prize Luncheon on October 9, 2007 at the Productive Nanosystems Conference. Presentations of the winners’ research are scheduled for the following day, October 10, 2007, at 11:30 a.m.

The 2007 finalists for the Experimental prize are:

Andrew Ellington from University of Texas at Austin
Matthew Francis of University of California, Berkeley
Kazushi Kinbara and Takuzo Aida from University of Tokyo, Japan
David Leigh from University of Edinburgh, UK
J. Fraser Stoddart from University of California, Los Angeles
James M. Tour from Rice University
Itamar Willner from Hebrew University, Israel

The 2007 Finalists for the Theory prize are:

Robert A. Freitas, Jr. from the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing
David Leigh from University of Edinburgh, UK
George Schatz from Northwestern University
Tamar Seideman from Northwestern University

For more information about the Productive Nanosystems Conference, see http://www.sme.org/nanosystems.

About Foresight Nanotech Institute
Foresight Nanotech Institute is the leading public interest organization in nanotechnology. Founded in 1986, Foresight promotes nanotechnology to improve the health and well being of people and the planet. Scientists, academics, engineers, business, governments and the public turn to Foresight for balanced, accurate, and timely information provided through its publications, public policy activities, roadmaps, prizes, and conferences. For more information about Foresight Nanotech Institute: see http://www.foresight.org.