(Washington, D.C.) - Today, Congressman McCaul (R-TX) along with Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), co-founding members of the bi-partisan, Congressional High Tech Caucus, held a joint panel discussion on the Commercialization of Nanotechnology with the Congressional Nanotechnology Caucus.

This year, the House is expected to reauthorize the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), a federal R&D program to coordinate the multi-agency efforts in nanoscale science, engineering, and technology. Nanotechnology refers broadly to a field of applied science and technology whose unifying theme is the control of matter on the atomic and molecular scale, normally 1 to 100 nanometers, and the fabrication of devices with critical dimensions that lie within that size range. Nanotechnology has the great potential to improve lives and contribute to economic growth.

The panel brings together experts to discuss this emerging field and promote an open dialogue on the topic. The discussion was moderated by Aatish Salvi of the NanoBusiness Alliance. Guest panelists included:

Guest Panelists:
Robert J. Linhardt, Ph.D., Acting Director, Center for Biotech and Interdisciplinary
Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic ~Institute
Michael McGarrity, Chief Marketing Officer, Nanosphere
Sanjay K. Banerjee, Ph.D., Cockrell Family Regents Chair, Professor of Electrical and
Computer Engineering, Director of the Microelectronics Research Center, University of
Texas, Austin
Dr. Jeffrey J. Welser, Director, SRC Nanoelectronics Research Initiative, IBM Almaden
Research Center
Edward Cupoli, Prof. of NanoEconomics, College of Nanoscale, Univ. of Albany-SUNY
James M. Hussey, Chief Executive Officer, NanoInk, Inc.
Scott Livingston, Managing Director, Axiom Capital Management Inc.

Congressman McCaul is also pleased to announce that the following companies will showcase their nanotech products tomorrow in a second High Tech Caucus event from 9:00 – 11:00 am in 2168 RHOB:
Evident Technologies, QD Vision, FEI, Nanosys, Luna Innovations, Reactive Nanotechnologies, NanoInk, Advanced Diamond Technologies, Hewlett-Packard, QuantumSphere, Eikos, NanoFilm, Nantero, Apollo Diamond, Starfire Systems, GE, Boston Scientific, University of Illinois, Nanocor, Wilson Center, Altairnano, Nano-Tex, Batelle, Applied Nanotech, and Qualcomm.

Created at the beginning of the 110th Congress, the Congressional High Tech Caucus is a forum in which Members of Congress address the concerns vital to this important industry. The Caucus solicits briefings from industry leaders and experts as well as educators and government officials working on related issues. The Caucus gives industry leaders, university and private researchers and interested groups the ability to share their ideas, by promoting dialogue, to improve our high tech sector, expand job growth and improve American competitiveness.

The Caucus has previously held roundtable panel events on: the Patent Reform Act, the "White Spaces" issue before the FCC, and Cybersecurity. Future Caucus events may focus on: the intersection of Green and Technology, Fair Use, and Health IT.

Current members of the Congressional High Tech Caucus are:
Reps. McCaul, Gillibrand, Bilbray, Issa, Sessions, Carter, Reichert, Wu, E.B. Johnson, Honda, Barton, Hall, Inslee, Kennedy, McCotter, Brady (TX), Kuhl, Mack, Lipinski, G. Davis, Conaway, McHenry, McMorris-Rodgers, Manzullo, Shuster, Dent, Blackburn, Wolf, Cantor, Sullivan, Burgess, Marchant, Camp, Feeney, Rohrabacher, Bono, Kirk, Boren, McNerney, Courtney, Eshoo, Mahoney, Melancon, Shuler, Klein, Yarmuth, Shea-Porter, Matheson, Jackson-Lee, Waxman, Lofgren, Sali, Radonovich, Richardson