In his ‘Taking the NanoPulse’ column in IndustryWeek, Nanofilm’s Chief Executive Officer, Scott Rickert has reported that several years of investment by the private sector and government in the field of nanotechnology has resulted in a sector having high level of economic opportunity and more number of jobs.
Dr. Scott Rickert, CEO of Nanofilm
According to Rickert, the launch of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, a public-private consortium will help harvest the huge potential in the field of nanotechnology. The Advanced Manufacturing Partnership has invested over $500 million in the nanotechnology arena and other up-and-coming technologies with the objective of stepping up the commercialization of scientific advancements to create novel products and high-salaried jobs.
In the partnership, major companies such as Proctor and Gamble, Ford and Dow together with top universities have teamed up with the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Economic Council.
The column describes the consortium’s wide scope, of which three objectives deal directly with commercialization of nanotechnology. The first objective is decreasing the synthesizing time of innovative materials for production. The second objective is to develop novel technologies to rapidly design, develop, test and market innovative products. The third objective is to create shared facilities and an infrastructure that create opportunities for mid and small-sized innovators.
Rickert’s advice to the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership is that the consortium must be run as a partnership rather than a handout. Private sector businesses and investors are the truest judges of business, as they are the people risking their own resources.