Contributing to Nano-technology

Israel will host the second annual International Nanotechnology Conference in November. The conference will focus on innovations and business opportunities in the energy, water, environment, nano-material, nano-electronics, nano-photonics, nano-bio and nano-medicine fields. Nanotechnology allows researchers to control matter on an atomic and molecular level. Through nanotechnology, "organ transplants may become a thing of the past, as special growth factors based on nanotechnology help grow healthy cells in an organ to replace unhealthy ones. Nanotechnology could also help to vastly reduce pollutants from internal combustion engines and could even develop elements that provide the taste of sugar in foods, without the calories and tooth decay that are part and parcel of the product today"-D. Halevi. Conference speakers will include the 2010 co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics, Professor Andre Geim, University of Manchester, for his discovery and work with the nano-material graphene. The US is well represented with several noted experts in nanotechnology as conference speakers including: Prof. M Ferrari (Pres. Alliance for NanoHealth, UT), Travis Earles (Asst Dir. For nanotechnology- White House Office of Science and Tech.Policy), Prof. Prashant Kamat (U. of Notre Dame), Dr. Phillip Low, Dr. Meyya Meyyappan (Chief Scientist in Exploration Tech. at Nanotech Ctr. NASA Ames Research Ctr., CA), Prof Samuel Stupp (NW Univ.), Prof. Shimon Weiss, and Prof. Peidong Yang (Harvard, Deputy Dir. For Ctr. of Integrated Nanomechanical Systms), and Charles Lieber ( Dept. of Chem. And Chem Bio, Harvard). Israel is known worldwide as a center of knowledge, research and innovation in nano-technology. Her achievements are at the forefront of a variety of the industrial fields, such as communications, electronics, computerization, security, medicine and life-sciences. "Among the applications Israeli start-ups have developed using nanotech are water purification membranes, agents for oral drug delivery, inkjet digital printing systems, diagnostic tools, holographic storage systems - and an 'e-beam on a chip,' which is similar to a laser beam, to be used for semiconductor manufacturing."-D. Halevi One conference speaker, Prof. Reshef Tenne from Israel's Weizmann Institute, is known for leading the group that discovered and studied the inorganic fullerene-like nanospheres and nanotubes, generally termed IF nanoparticles, considered a new class of nanomaterials. Minus the rich resources of wealthier countries, Israeli researchers have done a great deal of work in helping to discover new nano-materials, and "Israel is by far the most advanced country in its neighborhood in nano-research. According to the INNI, one of the conference sponsors, there are approximately 80 large and small companies, including more than 40 academic and governmental labs working in Israel's nanotech sector. The INNI states that Israel has the third-largest concentration of startup companies in the world, surpassed only by California's Silicon Valley and the Boston technology corridor"-Halevi.