Nanotechnology Institute Refunded with $3.5 Million from Pennsylvania
On March 14 Governor Edward Rendell announced that the NTI has been refunded for $3.5 million from the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority through the commonwealth’s Pennsylvania Initiative for Nanotechnology (PIN).
The NTI was one of six programs funded and received the largest portion of a total $9.8 million announced at a press conference at Carnegie Mellon University “that could ensure the commonwealth’s place as a global leader in emerging technologies.” The funding supports the PIN, which the Governor emphasizes, “leverages Pennsylvania’s regional academic, industrial and economic assets to improve research and technology at the atomic and molecular levels.”
Since its inception, the NTI has helped produce more than 225 IP assets, facilitated seven technology licenses, assisted in the development of 13 young companies and attracted more than $172 million in public and private investment to the region.
The NTI was represented at the press conference by Dr. Anthony Green, Ben Franklin Director, NTI, Dr. Robert McGrath, Associate Vice Provost and Executive Director, Entrepreneurship and Technology Commercialization, Drexel University, and Paul S. Cribbins, Assistant Vice President Office of Government and Community Affairs, University of Pennsylvania.
Why Is Small So Big?
Nanotechnology deals with products and processes that are measured in almost unbelievably small increments called “nanometers”—one billionth of a meter.
At the nanoscale, materials differ from larger objects in their physical, chemical and biological properties; therefore, they lend themselves to new and improved materials, systems and devices. Nanotechnology is behind the development of such diverse advancements as:
- Drug Delivery
- Biofiltration and Separation sciences
- Improved coatings for medical devices
Thanks to rapid advances in this exciting new field, we now have the tools and talents to manipulate materials on the molecular scale—a technology literally changing the world as we know it.