| Nanotech 2004, the largest international nanotechnology conference and trade show in the world, today announced that the Boston Sheraton Hotel will be the location of its 7th annual show on March 7-11. Nanotech 2004 expects attendance to triple in size from the previous year with more than 90 featured exhibitors and an expected crowd of more than 1,500 attendees, which will include business executives, venture capitalists, politicians, scientists and researchers. Highlights will include the state of Massachusetts presenting a report on the current climate of nanotechnology research and innovation in Massachusetts. The show will also feature a keynote address by Clayton Teague, who was recently appointed by President George W. Bush to head the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office. Bush recently signed the Nanotechnology Research and Development Act which authorizes the federal government to spend $3.7 billion over the next four years on nanotechnology research. "The success of the show has mirrored the explosion in nanotechnology," said Matthew Laudon, Nanotech 2004 organizer and executive director of the Nano Science and Technology Institute (NSTI) in Cambridge. "When we started out seven years ago, we were a small gathering of nanotechnology scientists interested in sharing research and now we've become a full-fledged trade show with exhibitors, investors, early stage and research companies and scientists and researchers from all over the world." "Massachusetts is a natural location for Nanotech 2004," Laudon said. "In 2002, companies and universities in Massachusetts received more than $140 million in nanotechnology-related venture capital investment, the largest amount of any state except California. Massachusetts continues to lead the way in nanotechnology research and innovation." Nanotechnology is the science of designing and building on the atomic or molecular level. The nanoscale is one billionth of a meter-80,000 times than the width of a human hair. Nanotechnology is already revolutionizing medicine, science, pharmaceuticals, robotics, electronics, manufacturing and computer technology. Products currently using nanotechnology science include stain-resistance pants, tennis balls, ski wax, digital cameras, automotive plastics and sun screen. "Nanotechnology is a boundless science that reaches into every imaginable aspect of human life," said Bart Romanowicz, Nanotech 2004 organizer and executive director of microtechnology for NSTI. "The United States is on the cusp of entering into the Nanotechnology Age and Nanotech 2004 will be one of the driving forces bringing together scientists and researchers, investors and business people, and the government." |