Concept for an International Study of the Long-term Impacts and Future Opportunities for Nanoscale Science and Engineering

DRAFT June 12, 2009 /

Introduction

The creation of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) in the U.S. in 2000 catalyzed a vast, world-wide increase in research and development on nanoscience and nanotechnology. The impacts of the resulting increased research and development in nanoscience and nanotechnology (here called “nano R&D”) are seen daily in reports of discoveries and innovations that will improve the lives of people all over the world. Indeed the resulting excitement has benefited the global science and engineering enterprise generally, and particularly science and engineering education.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the progress made in nanoscale science and engineering worldwide and discuss research directions for the next ten years based on current research and scenario development.

Background

There is a voluminous literature on the focused investment in nano; only a few key publications will be cited here. WTEC indirectly helped provide the international R&D data for the NNI proposal (Siegel, Hu, and Roco 1999). It also helped gather ideas for a U.S. research agenda through a workshop and report (Roco, Williams, and Alivisatos 2000). Through facilitation of books, WTEC helped Federal agencies consider possible impacts on society (Roco and Bainbridge 2001) and on other fields of science and technology (Roco and Bainbridge 2003). WTEC has also edited and produced a series of workshop reports on nano.

Need for an International Assessment

After ten years of such progress, it is now time to gather and analyze the major effects of this focused nano research, not just in making major discoveries and innovations possible, but to gauge its impacts in altering the ways that science, engineering and their education are done. With information on broader impacts, the scientific community as well as industry and policy-makers could better plan for evolution of nano R&D in directions that provide greater benefit to the science, engineering, and education system of the U.S., plus the public as a whole.

Benefits from a WTEC Study

After a study of the literature already available on broader impacts, the proposed study would use WTEC's methodology of a peer review panel to conduct visits to overseas sites to gather international information on nano R&D impacts in the U.S. and abroad. This effort will be combined with the panel's own knowledge of the U.S. and international scene. The deliverables will include briefings to sponsors, a public workshop, and a final report. Collectively they should provide a comprehensive set of evaluations of developments worldwide, with a focus from basic to precompetitive research, including benchmarking of progress in nano R&D in different countries.

To control the scope, the study would focus on only 6-7 technical areas, such as electronics, biomedical, cognition, manufacturing, CNT applications, quantum effects applications, and others selected by the sponsors. Emphasis on engines of change in nano, such as sensing and manipulation tools, new ideas, and new applications could also help scope the study.

There will be other benefits for policy development. For example, the study can address some of the key issues of importance to science and engineering communities, including:

  • On a strategic level--how has the vision of nanotechnology changed in the last ten years? What is the state-of-the-art now vs. ten years ago? Where is the field likely to go next?
  • How have the technological impacts changed in this period? For example Table ES1 in the 1999 report lists GMR read heads as a present impact and forecasts terabit memory and microprocessing as a future impact. Which future impacts have been realized, and how should this table be updated?
  • What is the impact of increased U.S. nano R&D on foreign nano conduct of R&D?
  • What are the most important scientific discoveries and engineering innovations worldwide that can be attributed to U.S. nano R&D vs. nano R&D abroad?
  • What have been the major impacts of U.S. and foreign nano R&D on the structure of science and engineering in the U.S. and abroad? These would include new R&D organizations in nano and the encouragement of interdisciplinary R&D.
  • What have been the major impacts of focused nano R&D on education for science and engineering in the U.S. and abroad? These could include academic degree programs, educational labs and centers, education of the public, attraction of new students into careers in science and engineering, etc.
  • What is the interface between nano R&D worldwide and society as a whole?
  • What lessons can be learned to guide future focused R&D funding efforts to maximize their impacts?
  • What are the major emerging ideas in nano R&D programs abroad that are worth exploring in the U.S.?
  • What are the appropriate metrics for comparing U.S. and international nano R&D? How does the U.S. rate compared to its international competitors using those metrics? This topic could include both (1) nano R&D and (2) practical applications, commercialization, and economic impacts.
  • How are other nations doing in transitioning basic research advances in the field into practical applications? Are there models for technology commercialization abroad that ought to be considered in the U.S.?
  • Other related issues of interest to the sponsors

The bottom line of the study findings might be, “What is the nanoscale science and engineering progress made in the last ten years and what is likely to happen in the next ten years?”

Topics

The technical issues in the Nanotechnology Research Directions report will provide the structure for the study. These include:

  • Fundamental Scientific Issues for Nanotechnology
  • Investigative Tools:
  • Theory, Modeling, and Simulation
  • Experimental Methods and Probes
  • Synthesis, Assembly, and Processing of Nanostructures
  • Applications:
  • Dispersions, Coatings, and Other Large Surface Area Structures
  • Nanodevices, Nanoelectronics, and Nanosensors
  • Consolidated Nanostructures
  • Biological, Medical, and Health
  • Energy and Chemicals
  • Nanoscale Processes and the Environment
  • Infrastructure Needs for R&D and Education

Panelists will be recruited to cover one or more of these issues.

Nominations for Panelists

Choices for experts to chair and serve on the panel are under discussion.

Budget

The study could be done at several levels of effort. A five-person panel of American experts could be recruited to visit the top institutions abroad to discuss impacts and the latest major discoveries and innovations with the leading experts there. The geographic scope would include six countries in Western Europe, plus Japan and China. The panel would then present their results in a workshop at NSF and a final report ($450K). A more comprehensive international assessment could be done, as in many WTEC studies, with these options: (1) a North American baseline workshop to gather information from the U.S., (2) a larger U.S. delegation (6-8), (3) visits to other leading countries (South Korea, Singapore, Australia, Israel, and/or Russia, perhaps), and (4) a more substantial report, including a book version. It is expected that several Federal agencies would contribute, thus leveraging the amounts from each.

For Further Information:

Duane Shelton, WTEC, , 717-299-7130

Geoff Holdridge, WTEC, , 443-794-2743

References

  1. PCAST (2008). The National Nanotechnology Initiative: Second Assessment and Recommendations of the National Nanotechnology Advisory Panel. Executive Office of the President, April, 2008.
  2. NRC (2006), A Matter of Size: Triennial Review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative, National Academies Press, 2006.
  3. Roco, MC, RS Williams, and P. Alivisatos (2000), IWGN Workshop Report: Nanotechnology Research Directions. Kluwer, 2000.
  4. Roco, MC and WS Bainbridge (2001), Societal Implications of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. Kluwer, 2001.
  5. Roco, MC and WS Bainbridge (2003), Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance. Kluwer, 2003.
  6. Siegel, RW, E Hu, and MC Roco (1999), WTEC Panel Report on Nanostructure Science and Technology, Kluwer, 1999.

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