Oklahoma NanoTechnology Initiative
















								Nano News State National Industry --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Video News --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How will Nanotechnology Change our World? Courtesy, Public Television --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State News --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Out Front: Oklahoma's Southwest Nanotube Technologies Inc. Expands OKC Business By Randall Turk 06/09/08 Southwest Nanotube Technologies Inc., or SWeNT, has advanced on three fronts over the past year. The company has improved the quality of its single-wall nanotubes and collaborated with other research and development teams to develop new applications for them. And this month, SWeNT moves to new research and production headquarters in Norman Business Park where larger manufacturing capacity will enable the company to produce large quantities of the tiny nanotubes for next-generation products and processes. Read More Venture capitalist retiring from i2E The Oklahoman By Don Mecoy 06/07/08 Greg Main, president and chief executive officer of i2E, has retired and will be succeeded by Tom Walker, who previously served as executive vice president and chief operating officer for the not-for-profit corporation aimed at spurring technology-based entrepreneurs in Oklahoma. Read More How Safe are Nanoparticles? The Journal Record By Gregory M. Lamb (The Christian Science Monitor) 05/22/08 Small is beautiful when it leads to new products that do great things, like speed up computers or cleanse the environment. But the nanoscale-sized particles (a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter) behind some of these advances are also raising questions about their safety, questions that are not yet thoroughly understood or researched. Read More NanoBioMagnetics announces issuance of U.S. patent The Edmond Sun 03/27/08 EDMOND — Officials of NanoBioMagnetics Inc., recently announced the issuance of its first patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patent, titled “Method and Apparatus for Improving Hearing,” is based on the use of magnetically responsive nanoparticles implanted in the organs of the middle ear to drive tissue vibrations in the amplification of sound. The technology was the first demonstration of the nanomechanical movement of tissue and operates in principle much like a typical commercial electromagnetic hearing aid. Development and validation was done during 2002-04. The company now will move the technology through commercialization partnerships. Statistics of the National Institutes of Health indicate sensorineural hearing loss affects about 28 million Americans. The technology covered by today’s patent has the potential to move hearing aid systems to smaller and totally implantable hearing devices, achieving more favorable patient economics performance and compliance. Charles Seeney, CEO and Founder of NBMI, and co-inventor on the patent, said “miniaturization of hearing devices through ever smaller electronic components is part of an emerging trend based on applying nanotechnology to human healthcare needs.” A companion technology, based on the targeted delivery of bioactive materials to the inner ear, continues under development. The company also has in progress major research collaborations assessing the tumor-specific delivery of cancer therapeutics, research for which is ongoing at the M D Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The patent issuance is viewed as Oklahoma’s first nanotechnology-based patent for a health-care application. Nanotech – the eyes have it at Broken Arrow’s Access Optics The Journal Record By Brian Brus 04/08/08 OKLAHOMA CITY – The future growth of Broken Arrow-based Access Optics LLC is, appropriately enough, a matter of perspective and scale, founder Bob Hogrefe said. “The usual question that venture capitalists ask is, ‘What stage are you in? Are you a startup or what?’” he said. “And the answer is: I’m not sure. It feels like we’re constantly in a startup mode, even though we’re already seven years old.” Hogrefe described the optical components his company produces as the sort of lens you might find in President Abraham Lincoln’s eye – on a penny, that is. Access Optics deals with optical glass for many high-precision uses, ranging from the aerospace and petroleum exploration industries to the microscopic scale in endoscopic surgical equipment. The company was one of five that received development funding under the 2007 Oklahoma Nanotechnology Application Project sponsored by OCAST, or the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology. Markets for endoscopic equipment traditionally have been controlled by large, original equipment manufacturers’ suppliers, Hogrefe said, but Access Optics has been working on the in-house production of metal-to-glass lens seals to pierce that barrier. “This is about as far from traditional glass as you can get. We’re talking about very sophisticated components. … One of our materials of interest is synthetic sapphire, which is supremely durable,” he said. “So when you hear about the miracle of modern surgery, with minimally invasive techniques, the kind of device they’re using employs our optics.” Hogrefe and his wife, Pam, worked in the optics industry for several years before deciding to strike out on their own. Bob Hogrefe said he still good-naturedly fields others’ assumptions about Access Optics’ origins as a “mom-and-pop shop.” The company, now with about 25 full-time employees, is expected to break ground soon on an 18,000-square-foot facility with completion scheduled for January. The company has experienced a 56-percent compound annual growth rate since it was founded. “Has it taken longer than I thought to reach this point? A little,” he said. “But we have grown very aggressively. … Getting to seven figures in sales, which happened fairly rapidly for us, is a whole bunch different from growing at seven figures, which we’re doing now. I’m not sure which one’s more difficult.” Maintaining a healthy growth pattern for the company requires a constantly shifting focus, he said. “It’s like riding up in an elevator where, when you’re at the ground floor, you have one view of what the world looks like, but after you get up a few stories it starts to look different,” he said. “That’s the case with us, especially in the case of capital.” His view of business growth has gone through several phases over the years, from establishing basic equipment and infrastructure, to building inventory, to opening new markets and expansion. “Now we’re not only thinking about developing products to gain markets, but also acquisitions to gain technology,” Hogrefe said. He’s looking at European markets as well, he said. “People can take growth too far, getting so phenomenally driven that they sacrifice everything else. We’re not in that mode. But we have such a tiny part of the market right now and our capabilities are strong enough that it’s pretty much open-field running for us with respect to growth.” He said, “At the moment, we’re not in the market for venture capital, but we’re looking at big opportunities and things can change quickly. … As we get bigger and bigger, our capital requirements are going to drive us to some sort of investment scenario. We’re open to those kinds of conversations.” Researcher will talk on nanotechnology The Oklahoman 04/08/08 The Oklahoma Nanotechnology Initiative will feature a Tennessee researcher Thursday as part of its Speaking of Nano series at the University of Oklahoma. Peter Cummings, director of the Nanomaterials Theory Institute within the Center for Nanophase Materials Science at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and a professor of chemical engineering at Vanderbilt University, will speak on theory and simulation at 2:30 p.m. in Room M-204 in the Sarkeys Center, 101 E Boyd. Cummings will speak on Understanding and Designing at the Nanoscale: The Crucial Role of Theory and Simulation in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. A reception/networking event will conclude the event in the Atrium of the Sarkeys Energy Center, sponsored by the Oklahoma Nanotechnology Initiative. For more information, call 235-3669, ext. 244. For youths, the big idea may be small By Micah Gamino The Oklahoman 01/08/18 Seventh- and eighth-graders from 24 Oklahoma schools will display their vision of cities of the future as tabletop models Saturday during the National Engineers Week Future City Competition at Oklahoma Christian University. "It's great that there's a project like this that challenges us to the limit and helps us find a career,” said Hannah Govette, 13. "I'm considering engineering, especially since Future City and now learning about nanotechnology, I'd like to pursue that.” Nanotechnology, one of the main focuses of this year's event, involves the creation of materials, devices and systems through the manipulation of matter less than 100 nanometers — about 10 times smaller than a typical germ — in length. Govette, from St. Philip Neri Catholic School in Midwest City, and her partner, Audrey Grossen, plan to display a city design that uses "dendritic polymers, hexagonal carbon tubes and other nanotechnologies” to filter drinking water. "It's going to be a big part of our lives,” Grossen said of nanotechnology. "It's on the scale of atoms and molecules, so it's pretty much down to the bone.” Influencing lives Carol Rieg, national director of Future City, says the program's purpose is to get kids acquainted with engineering through hands-on experience. "They see engineering as a direct influence on their lives, and how math and science are relevant to their world,” Rieg said. "We reach these children just when they start to consider where they want to go in their lives.” Saturday's regional competition, sponsored by Shell Oil Co., is one of 40 across the country, organizers said. The winning team — consisting of three students, a teacher and an engineer mentor — from each qualifying regional will receive a trip to the national finals in Washington. The team that wins the national championship will receive a trip to U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala. Nanotechnology The Oklahoman 01/15/08 In a nanotechnology breakthrough, scientists from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have printed the Old Testament onto a silicone chip smaller than a pinhead. Technion professor Uri Sivan, head of the university's Nanotechnology Institute, said the text was written using a focused ion beam generator that shot tiny particles called gallium ions onto a gold surface covering a base layer of silicone. "This research could lead to the creation of more advanced miniature structures — and imaging — on a nanometric scale, advances in storing information in very small spaces, and the use of DNA molecules to store information,” Sivan said. 2007 Nanotechnology Survey Click here to view survey. Tiny Technology Big Business for Oklahoma KOTV - Tulsa 08/28/2007 If good things come in small packages Oklahoma's in for a pleasant surprise. News On 6 anchor Scott Thompson reports the growth of a technology of tiny proportions holds a big promise of economic gain over the next hundred years. Read More XetaComp Inks Distributor Agreements 8/28/07 XetaComp Nanotechnologies, LLC has announced the achievement of a significant milestone in the signing of distributor agreements that will take sunVex products into national and international markets. These accounts, when fully implemented, will generate substantial revenue for the company, with projections from $10 to $20 million in the first years of operation. Read More XetaComp begins production in Lawton The Journal Record 6/21/07 LAWTON – A nanotechnology company spun off from NanoBioMagnetics Inc. of Edmond has begun production of sunscreen and other products in Lawton. Dennis Donaldson, spokesman for XetaComp, said the company recently opened at 102 NE 20th St. in Lawton. Read More Rising star: Research funding should be restored The Oklahoman 5/23/07 OKLAHOMA City hasn't yet achieved rock-star status when it comes to biomedical research. It is on a short list of cities one man pegged as rising stars in that area, and we expect its stock will continue to rise if leaders continue to make smart investments.Read More Nanotech expert to address expo The Oklahoman 05/22/07 Nationally known nanotechnology expert Enrique Barrera will be one of the keynote speakers Wednesday at the sixth annual Oklahoma Aerospace Summit & Expo at the Cox Convention Center, officials said. Barrera, professor and chairman of mechanical engineering and materials science at Rice University, will speak on "Nanotechnology: the Future of Aerospace.” Q&A with Jim Mason Aerospace event grows to become 'must-go' industry destination The Oklahoman 05/18/07 Q: What is the purpose of the Oklahoma Aerospace Summit & Expo? A: The Oklahoma Aerospace Summit and Expo brings together the decision makers of Oklahoma's largest employer, Tinker Air Force Base, with the aerospace industry's high-tech vendors and Oklahoma's aerospace companies where the latest products, services and concepts of the Oklahoma Aerospace industry can be showcased. Read More Nano-potential: State could drive new technology The Daily Oklahoman 04/03/07 Nanotechnology is an "enabling” technology from which new or improved products are emerging, Jim Mason told an audience at the NanoFocus 2007 conference last week. "We're making things smaller, faster, stronger, lighter and more durable,” said Mason, executive director of the state-funded Oklahoma Nanotechnology Initiative. Read More NanoFocus2007 spotlights value Small Times Magazine 03/29/07 From the iPod Nano to science fiction novels, nanotechnology has garnered an exotic reputation in the public's consciousness, says Aatish Salvi, vice president of the National Nano Business Alliance. Read More OCAST announces state’s first nanotechnology applications award winners Five small Oklahoma businesses that will improve their competitive position through nanotechnology are recipients of nearly $1.25 million in OCAST’s first Oklahoma Nanotechnology Applications Project (ONAP) award. The awards were made this week by the OCAST governing board. Read More The Oklahoma Nanotechnology Survey says… Steve Holley, Engineering Technologies Instructor at OSU Okmulgee, has summarized the results of our survey of Oklahoma businesses perception of nanotechnology in his white paper entitled "Nano Revolution – Big Impact: How emerging Nanotechnologies will Change the Future of Education and Industry in America and the Oklahoma Region Specifically". Click here for the survey. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- National News --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EU to Pace Nanotechnology Latest Study Fuels Concerns Over Health; Setting a Standard Wall Street Journal Matthew Dalton 5/29/08 BRUSSELS -- Mounting concern and new scientific evidence that nanoparticles could threaten human health are ratcheting up the pressure on European officials to produce regulations governing the use of the technology. Read More $100M from Gates for health R&D SOURCE: Associated Press 3/6/08 If you have an unorthodox, unproven idea that can prevent HIV infection or help protect against infectious diseases, one of the richest men in the world wants to hear from you. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has set aside $100 million to encourage innovation in global health research, offering grants to those with innovative ideas on four topics: Tuberculosis, HIV, infectious diseases and drug resistance. Read More Nanotechnology Answers the Call 2/26/08 Nokia and the Univ. of Cambridge are showing off a new stretchable and flexible mobile device of the future called Morph. The new concept phone is part of an online display presented in conjunction with the "Design and the Elastic Mind" exhibition underway through May 12 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The device, which is made using nanotechnology, is intended to demonstrate how cell phones in the future could be stretched and bent into different shapes, allowing users to "morph" their devices into whatever shape they want. Think Stretch Armstrong for cell phones. Want to wear your cell phone as a bracelet? No problem, just bend it around your wrist. Read More Nano-sized “Trojan horses” get government funding Rice University 1/28/08 The Department of Defense has commissioned a nine-month study from Rice Univ. chemists and scientists in the Texas Medical Center to determine whether a new drug based on carbon nanotubes can help prevent people from dying of acute radiation injury following radiation exposure. The new study was commissioned after preliminary tests found the drug was greater than 5,000 times more effective at reducing the effects of acute radiation injury than the most effective drugs currently available. Read More Houston seventh in nation for nanotechnology, survey shows Houston Business Journal 6/8/07 Houston is big in the science of small. The city ranked seventh in the nation -- tying with Austin and Denver -- in a recent survey of areas with the highest concentration of nanotechnology companies, universities, research laboratories and other organizations.Read More Small Technology, Big Potential Alan Brown to Lead the Pennsylvania NanoMaterials Commercialization Center TEQ July/August 2006 Universities know how to do research, but industry knows how to commercialize and market new products derived from that research. In the emerging world of nanotechnology, effectively wedding the power of both sides can spell enormous success in the marketplace, complete with the attendant job creation and economic development growth so eagerly sought. Read More Long Life Battery ScienCentralNews 2/15/06 In a world where technological advances are taken for granted, regular old batteries seem to have been left behind. But scientists hope to change that by using nanotechnology. This ScienCentral News video explains. Read More, Watch Video --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Industry News --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Taking The Nanopulse -- Reducing Billions To Millions Self-assembling nanomaterials will nano-ize manufacturing costs, too. IndustryWeek.com 6/11/07 Have you seen the latest nanotechnology news? IBM recently announced that they're building computer chips using a self-assembling nano-coating. I'll explain the amazing technology in a moment (and amazing it is), but here's the payoff that fascinates me. At the same time this new technology significantly increases the performance of the chip, the self-assembly nano-chemistry opens the door to reducing the cost of a chip fabrication facility by orders of magnitude -- from billions to a comparatively low-cost multi-million-dollar undertaking. More for less -- and isn't that what manufacturing is all about? Read More The Possibilities of Nanotechnology Data Center Journal 6/10/07 Nanotechnology is a word that will soon become a part of our every day vocabulary. In the past year their have been several research reports discussing nanotechnology. The subject has become a major topic world wide and more recently there was an announcement of an exhibit in France dedicated to yes, you guessed it - Nanotechnology. Read More Legal implications of the nanotechnology patent land rush Nanowerk.com 05/11/07 (Nanowerk Spotlight) The Oklahoma land rush of 1889 and similar land runs were events in which previously restricted land of the United States was opened for homesteading on a first come, first claim basis. Read More Nanotechnology Provides 'Green' Path To Environmentally Sustainable Economy 04/26/07 Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (www.sciencedaily.com) Science Daily — As products made with nanometer-scale materials and devices spread to more industries and markets, there is a growing opportunity and responsibility to leverage nanotechnology to reduce pollution, conserve resources and, ultimately, build a "clean" economy, advises a new report from the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. Read More Researchers see nanotechnology treatment for spinal cord injuries Siasat Daily (India) 04/29/07 Washington, April 29: Nanotechnology is showing promise in treating spinal cord injuries and could conceivably reverse paralysis, according to a report on the future of the emerging technology in medicine. Read More













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