On Oct. 10, the closing session of the Plumbing Manufacturers Institute’s fall meeting will address the impact of nanotechnology on the plumbing fixtures industry. Topics to be covered include nanotech coatings, metallurgy, commercialization, marketing, and environmental health and safety.
Planned speakers includeVincent Caprio, Vice President, NanoBusiness Alliance;Dr. Alan Rae, Vice President of Innovations, NanoDynamics, Inc.;Mark Mansour, Partner, Foley and Lander, LLP;Dr. Cynthia Kuper, President and Chief of Research, Versilant Nanotechnologies;Phil Reynolds, Technical Sales Training Manager, BYK USA; andDr. Robert Shull, Group Leader, Magnetic Materials Group, NIST.
The informative session will conclude by 12:30 p.m. to accommodate attendees’ travel arrangements. For more information, visit www.pmihome.org.
Separately, the winners of this year's Foresight Nanotech Institute Feynman prizes will be announced on Oct. 9, at the Productive Nanosystems Conference. Presentations of the winner's research are scheduled for the following day, Oct. 10.
The Foresight Nanotech Institute (FNI) is a think tank and public interest organization focused on nanotechnology. FNI announced the finalists for the 2007 prizes in early September. Named in honor of pioneer physicist Richard Feynman, these prestigious prizes 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 2007 finalists for the Experimental prize are:
*Andrew Ellington, University of Texas at Austin
*Matthew Francis, University of California, Berkeley
*Kazushi KinbaraandTakuzo Aida, University of Tokyo, Japan
*David Leigh, University of Edinburgh, UK
*J. Fraser Stoddart, University of California, Los Angeles
*James M. Tour, Rice University
*Itamar Willner, Hebrew University, Israel
The 2007 Finalists for the Theory prize are:
*Robert A. Freitas, Jr. , Institute for Molecular Manufacturing
*David Leigh, University of Edinburgh, UK
*George Schatz, Northwestern University
*Tamar Seideman, Northwestern University
For more information about the Productive Nanosystems Conference, see the Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ Web site at www.sme.org/nanosystems.
Photo courtesy of www.clarion.edu.
