NSF NANOTECHNOLOGY FORUM, NOBEL LAUREATE KEYNOTE,
To Highlight Upcoming Foresight Conference
(PR Newswire; 09/16/98)
PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Science
Foundation, which recently announced a major initiative in nanotechnology,
is joining with Foresight Institute to sponsor a one-day forum on the topic
"From Scientific Discovery to the Nanotechnology of Tomorrow." The NSF
Forum will take place in conjunction with Foresight Institute's Sixth
Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology, November 14-16, 1998, in
Santa Clara, CA.
Professor Steven Chu, 1997 winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics, will
deliver the keynote address at the Foresight Conference. The Stanford
University physics professor will speak on the topic, "The manipulation of
atoms and bio- molecules by laser light." Chu is the second consecutive
Nobel laureate to keynote the Foresight conference, which last year was
keynoted by Rice University's Richard Smalley, who won his Nobel Prize for
discovering new and complex forms of carbon molecules, known as
"buckyballs."
Chu's keynote presentation will be the first of about 100 presentations at
what is regarded as the world's leading scientific conference on molecular
nanotechnology. The conference is expected to draw more than 300
researchers, scientists, and public policy experts from more than 20
countries on four continents.
"Molecular nanotechnology" is the emerging ability to manipulate atoms and
to assemble materials with molecular precision; its realization could allow
-- among other things -- the pollution-free and low cost manufacturing of
materials with great strength and unique physical properties, as well as
functional robotic machines and computer systems smaller than bacteria.
The Foresight conference and NSF forum will be held at the Westin Hotel in
Santa Clara, CA. The Conference will begin with a reception the evening of
Thursday, November 12, and end Sunday, November 15, 1998.
The NSF Forum will be moderated by Prof. M.C. Roco, Chair of NSF's
Interagency Nanotechnology Group. The Forum will address the following
issues:
* Interdependence and synergism between scientific discovery and technology
in nanoscale research.
* The path from fundamental discovery of new properties and phenomena to
industrial applications in nanotechnology.
* Ways to facilitate and best utilize current and expected major advances
in nanotechnology.
Invited lectures from industry, universities and national laboratories will
analyze the path from exploratory nanoscale research and new fundamental
discoveries to emerging technologies.
The Foresight conference itself is a meeting of scientists and
technologists working in fields leading toward molecular nanotechnology:
thorough three- dimensional structural control of materials and devices at
the molecular level.
The conference will cover topics relevant to the pursuit of molecular
control including:
* molecular electronics * biochemical molecular engineering * scanning
probe microscopy
* supramolecular chemistry and self-assembly * materials science *
mechanosynthesis
* natural molecular machines * artificial molecular machines * artificial
self replicating systems
* computational chemistry and molecular modeling * computer science *
mechanical engineering and robotics applications
* relevant chemical systems (fullerenes, diamond, biomolecules, etc.)
Other invited speakers, in addition to Dr. Chu, include Professor
M. Reza Ghadiri of the Scripps Research Institute, speaking on "Molecular
Self- Assembly, Self-Organization, and Self-Replication"; Professor Steven
M. Block of the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University,
speaking on "Using Optical Tweezers to Study Biological Motors"; Dr. Sumio
Iijima of the Research and Development Department at NEC Corporation of
Japan, speaking on "Growth of curved graphenes"; Professor Cees Dekker of
the Department of Applied Physics and DIMES at Delft University of
Technology in Holland, speaking on "Carbon nanotubes as molecular quantum
wires"; and Professor Mark Reed of Yale University, speaking on "Molecular
Scale Electronic Devices and Systems."
The conference is co-chaired by Al Globus and Deepak Srivastava of MRJ
Technology Solutions, Inc. at NASA Ames Research Center, who conduct
research for NASA's extensive nanotechnology effort at NASA Ames.
The program committee, which will select additional speakers from among
more than 100 abstracts, includes Dr. William A. Goddard III of Caltech,
Ralph C. Merkle of Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, Dr. Nadrian C. Seeman
of New York University, and Dr. Richard Smalley of Rice University,
co-holder of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and keynote speaker at last
year's Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology.
Foresight Institute will also hold an intensive Tutorial on Critical
Enabling Technologies for Nanotechnology on November 12. It is chaired by
Dr. Jan Hoh of the Department of Physiology at the Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine in Baltimore.
Sun Microsystems Inc. is a General Corporate Sponsor of the Conference. Sun
Microsystems has emerged as a global Fortune 500 leader in enterprise
network computing, with over $8 billion in revenues and operations in 150
countries.
Supporting Corporate Sponsors include AMP Incorporated (NYSE: AMP), world
leader in the design and manufacture of electrical and electronic
connectors and interconnection systems, and Ford Motor Company, the world's
second largest maker of autos and trucks, with other interests including
plastics and electronics.
More information about the conference is available at the Foresight
Institute web site at http://www.foresight.org/Conferences/MNT6/index.html.
Foresight Institute is a not-for-profit foundation whose goal is to guide
emerging technologies to improve the human condition. Foresight focuses its
efforts upon nanotechnology and upon systems that will enhance knowledge
exchange and critical discussion, thus improving public and private policy
decisions. SOURCE Foresight Institute
-0- 09/16/98 /NOTE TO EDITORS: High-resolution illustrative graphics
depicting molecular nanotechnology designs are available from Foresight for
use by news media. Contact the organization as described above./
/CONTACT: Lewis M. Phelps of Phelps Consulting Group, for Foresight
Institute, 626-796-8551, Lew@PhelpsConsulting.com; or Chris Peterson,
Executive Director of Foresight Institute, 650-917-1122,
Inform@Foresight.org/
/Web site: http://www.foresight.org/Conferences/MNT6/index.html/ /Web Site:
http://www.foresight.org/ CO: Foresight Institute; National Science
Foundation ST: California
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