Approximately 200 attendees descended on Cleveland, Ohio from October 22-25 for the Nano App Summit, help at the Ritz Carlton. The Summit, presented by NorTech, Nano Network, and the Nano Business Alliance was nothing short of a successful meeting between nanotechnology focused researchers, industry.
The Summit addressed three full days of nanotechnology applications across three distinct areas: automotive applications, defense applications, and "clean tech" applications. Additionally, two "tutorials" preceded the conference, providing attendees with a primer on the science of nanotechnology by Dr. Alexis Abramson, and environmental, health, and safety regulation by a panel of Porter Wright attorneys.
Each day included interesting presentations addressing both research advancements and real-world applications for nanotechnology (see the agenda here). Conference organizers did a great job tapping speakers for presentations, and those speakers, in turn, provided those in attendance with interesting, timely, and stimulating material to consider. For their part, attendees were energetic and thoughtful in their participation and interaction. In short, the Summit was a rousing success.
Highlights of the week included, but were in no way limited to, a session on venture capitalist investment and an associated "fair" for companies looking for VCs, the promising remediation of chlorinated groundwater contamination using nanoscale iron particles by Golder Associates, the use of nanofilms in automotive coatings by Nanofilm, Inc., the use of nanotechnology in ceramic filters by MemPro, and regulatory insights from members of NIOSH and US EPA.
If the Summit holds true to form, the 2008 version will encompass medical applications in its entirety with a return to the cross-application focus in 2009. Stay up-to-date on developments for next year, as this is a conference not to be missed in the future.
