Nanotechnology opens global opportunity of $1 trillion

The experts in the field of Nanotechnology equivocally said that Nanotechnology cuts across all industries like Automotive, IT, Food, Health, Steel, Textiles, Energy, Paints, Cosmetics, Defense, etc and it provides a global opportunity of over $1 trillion by 2015. Bangalore Nano provided a platform for the researchers and industrialists from across the world to congregate and discuss opportunities existing in their part of the world. The event witnessed a series of presentations from selected speakers from India and abroad.

Speaking on the topic, Commercialization of Science, Sir Keith O’ Nions, Director General Science & Innovation, Dept. for Innovation, University & Skills in UK said, “Nanotechnology is of all disciplines and it provides a global opportunity of more than $1 trillion by 2015. UK government has an annual funding for research of £100m. Through this, 23 centres have established to promote commercialization and more than 1300 companies are active in Nanotechnology. UK accounts for almost 1/3^rd of all venture capital in Europe in the field of Nanotechnology. UK also set up and chaired ISO Technical Committee on Nanotechnology.”

The highlight lecture by Sir Keith was followed by a session on Research to Reality chaired by Dr. Amit Biswas, Sr. Vice President (R&D), Reliance Industries Ltd. The session saw eminent speakers from across the world namely, Dr. Faruq Marikar, Dr. G. Sundararajan, Dr. Pradip, Dr. Ajay P. Malshe and Prof. Richard A. L. Jones.

Dr. Faruq Marikar, MD, Nanobiz, USA said, “As India is gaining entry into the global top tier in numerous industry sectors, Innovation should come in naturally. Indians have proven that they can innovate in disciplined ways, here, there and everywhere. The necessary and sufficient conditions for innovation are trained scientists & engineers, tools & equipment and creative talent. A lot of learning is necessary to get there; and help is available if you ask for it, and pay for it.”

Dr. Pradip, Tata R&D Design Centre, Pune said, “Process engineering and scale up issues are critical in Nanotechnology. To meet application needs of the common man an innovative use of existing technology and new business models are needed.”

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