Nanotechnology in manufacturing is the focus of Industrial Physics Forum

Two days of talks, many focused on the rapid growth in nanotechnology manufacturing, marked the 2006 Industrial Physics Forum, which was held at San Francisco’s cavernous Moscone West Convention Center in conjunction with the international AVS symposium. Titled “Nanotechnology in Society and Manufacturing,” the annual physics forum, sponsored by the Corporate Associates of the American Institute of Physics, opened with a discussion by Mark Bünger, director of research for the New York-based Lux Research Inc, about the transition of nanotechnology from the discovery phase to commercialization. Nanotechnology is following the same commercialization pattern as plastics, biotechnology, and the internet, he said, citing a Lux industry survey that forecast rapid growth in nanotechnology over the next two years (see chart).

Other talks at the forum included the increasing use of nanotechnology in automobiles, semiconductor nanoelectronics, and biological systems. James Baker, a medical doctor from the University of Michigan, detailed his work on nanoscale DNA-linked dendrimers for treating some forms of ovarian cancer. Human trials of the treatment, which uses a nanoparticle as the building block of a complex molecule that targets cancerous cells, are expected to begin next summer, he said.

The risks of nanoparticles, the lack of federal regulation, and the ethical choices and dilemmas scientists may well have to confront as they develop nanotechnology-based systems were discussed by University of South Carolina science historian Ann Johnson. She noted that nanotechnology is “profoundly interdisciplinary,” linking many fields of science. With nanotechnology research, traditional scientific disciplines can become unstable, she said, and a new, nonlinear model of science might be needed.

The physics forum was blogged live for the first time since the Corporate Associates meetings began in 1958, and about 1700 people viewed the blog during the five full days of the AVS meeting. The blog is available at http://blogs.physicstoday.org/industry .