NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Beginning next Monday, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), will host the Inter-Organizational Nanotechnology (ION) Development 2006 workshop convening key researchers from mid-Atlantic laboratories, universities, research centers, regional state government, and private corporations to identify specific collaborative micro- and nanotechnology research and development projects.

WHO: NASA, Army Research Lab, Lehigh University, NIST, U, of Maryland, State of Maryland
WHAT: Nanotechnology workshop
WHERE: University of Maryland’s Inn and Conference Center, College Park, MD
WHEN: January 23-25, 2006

Nanotechnology involves devices with atomic-scale features and structures thousands of times smaller than the average human hair and is widely regarded as the next big area of scientific and technological advancement. In the years ahead, nanotechnology advancements for NASA will lead to plastics that are many times stronger and significantly lighter. Astronaut monitoring systems at the nano level may be used to detect cancer or for at-home health monitoring. Even fuel cells in the emerging hydrogen economy likely will use nanotechnology.

News media wishing to attend some the conference should contact Ed Campion in Goddard public affairs by calling (301) 286-0697 or via e-mail at edward.s.campion@nasa.gov to arrange accreditation and access.

ION Development 2006 will take place at the University of Maryland’s Inn and Conference Center in College Park, MD and will bring together representatives from leading research institutions that are collaborating with Goddard including the Army Research Lab at Adelphi, Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, The National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, The University of Maryland at College Park, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffet Field, CA.

“This is really an exciting time for Goddard,” said Dan Powell, GSFC’s Lead Nanotechnologist. “MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) and applied nanotech developers in the mid-Atlantic region are poised to lead the nation if not the world in this field.”

The purpose of ION Development 2006 is to address some of the most pressing technical challenges that Goddard and its partner organizations share. By working together, the group can develop an understanding of which technologies will best enable each organization to fulfill their respective missions and to do so in a more timely and cost-effective manner than any one organization could achieve on its own. A practical perspective on the regional impact of these technologies will be provided by local business leaders, who will lead dialogue in topical sessions and continue to serve as development partners after the workshop.

For more info on the space agency's nanotechnology efforts, go to:
http://www.infonetic.com/tis_conferences/ion/

Ed Campion
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md