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Nanotechnology in Canada - Status, Challenges and Time for Action
Montreal, Quebec, Canada. December 5th, 2002
The Canadian NanoBusiness Alliance and key partners have established a
Nanotech SWAT Team which will prepare a position paper on the need for a
Canadian National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). The Canadian NNI will
likely be modeled along the US initiative, which will invest US $710
million in nanotechnology research next year.
The SWAT team represents the viewpoints of various stakeholders and
includes:
- Chair: Neil Gordon, Canadian NanoBusiness Alliance
- NRC: Dan Wayner, National Institute of Nanotechnology
- Canadian Government: Tom Malis, Natural Resources Canada
- Academia: Peter Grutter, McGill and NSERC
- Industry: Uri Sagman, C Sixty
- Venture Capital: Tony Redpath, Primaxis Technology Ventures
"We expect to have this work carried out by mid-winter and then shared with Canada's nanotech community for consultation and support" said Neil Gordon, President of the Canadian NanoBusiness Alliance and Partner-Nanotechnology at Sygertech (www.sygertech.com), a Montreal-based management consulting firm.
A second phase would solicit input from key regions and sectors
including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) which is preparing a
NanoScience Planning Workshop in February 2003 for strategic investment
(headed by Rémi Quirion, PhD); and Canada's aerospace community
following the greatly successful CANEUS (www.caneus.com) micro/nano technology workshop which took
place at the Canadian Space Agency in August 2002 and featured
participants from 14 countries including 2 Nobel Laureates. CANEUS was
headed by Milind Pimprikar, Chairman of CLS3.
Canadian Government Workshop on Nanotechnology
Jack Smith from the NRC's Office of Technology Foresight, on behalf of
NRC President Arthur Carty and 12 Canadian Government agencies, had hosted a
Nanotechnology Scoping Workshop as part of the Federal Innovation
Networks of Excellence (FINE) Technology Foresight Pilot Project.
Multi-disciplinary experts participated in the Workshop to produce a
vision of what nanotechnology could look like 20 years into the future,
as well as identifying the capabilities that will be required to achieve
that vision.
As part of the Workshop, the Canadian NanoBusiness Alliance has made a presentation entitled "Nanotechnology in Canada - Status, Challenges and
Time for Action". A
PDF file is attached for viewing, and can be distributed in order to solicit feedback and ideas for the SWAT Team.
Recent Canadian Nanotech Accomplishments:
*
Micralyne is named runner up as Company of the Year, and
Chris
Lumb is runner up as Business Leader of the Year in Smalltimes Magazine Best
of 2002. See Small Times Magazine
Company of the Year, and
Business Leader of the Year
*
Dan Wayner, Acting Director General of the National Research
Council's National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT), received
"Canada's most prestigious academic accolade" - induction into the Royal Society
of Canada as a Fellow. See
Nano Institute Leader Named to Royal Society
* The
NINT/University of Alberta website is on-line and provides
valuable news and information on NINT activities. The site can be found
at:
University of Alberta Nanotechnology Council
Some recent Canadian nanotech conferences and sessions included:
- Nanomaterials Crossroads (Montréal)
- NanoQuébec Workshop (Montréal)
- CERION Workshop on Advanced Materials for Nano-Science (Montréal)
- CleanTech Clean Energy (Toronto)
- BioNorth (Ottawa)
* Special thanks to Alain Rochefort of CERCA for supplying the image
in the Canadian NanoBusiness Alliance logo. Some of Alain's outstanding
images can be seen at:
Nanostructures
Please Help Us Build Support
"For us to be successful in obtaining a Canadian NNI, support must come
from business, academia, government, and the financial community" said Gordon. "We
want to have 1,000 e-mail addresses by mid-winter to provide the critical
mass needed to legitimize this effort. Feel free to forward this Press Release to
fellow Canadians in nanotechnology or to those affiliated with Canadian
interests in nanotechnology who believe that a Canadian NNI is crucial
for our continued role as a high tech nation.".
For further information, please contact:
Neil Gordon P.Eng, MBA
President Canadian NanoBusiness Alliance
& Partner - Nanotechnology Sygertech
407 St. Laurent Boulevard, Suite 500
Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2Y 2Y5
Tel: (514) 351-7878 ext 299
Cell: (514) 813-7936
Fax: (514) 351-7545
email:
n.gordon@sygertech.com
Dr. Uri Sagman MD, FRCPC
Executive Director Canadian NanoBusiness Alliance
& President C Sixty
200 King Street West, Suite 1015, P.O Box 19
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5H 3T4
Tel: 416-351-0208
Cell: 416-436-6640
Fax: 416-351-0410
email:
usagman@csixty.com
Reprinted with premission.
Copyright Canadian NanoBusiness Alliance.
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