Nanotech Edmonton

[Shodan]

Big cash from micro tech
Aim is to attract top nanotech talent

Jason Markusoff
The Edmonton Journal

Wednesday, May 02, 2007


The National Institute for Nanotechnology, on the University of Alberta campus.
CREDIT: Rick MacWilliam/Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON - The Stelmach government will pump $130 million into nanotechnology research in Alberta, trying to position the province as a global leader in the revolutionary field.

The money, spread out over five years, will go towards attracting more top scientists, scholarships and product development, senior government sources said Tuesday.

Premier Ed Stelmach's announcement today will bolster Edmonton, which houses the National Institute for Nanotechnology on the University of Alberta campus. The city has also sprouted a fledgling cluster of companies eager to harness nanotechnology discoveries into commercial and industrial products.

The science deals with individual atoms and molecules long thought too small to be manipulated by humans -- 50,000 times thinner than a human hair. Being able to design and fabricate materials on a nano scale has allowed researchers to power computer memories with carbon-molecule tubes instead of silicon chips, and pioneer specially structured particles that help extract oil from the oilsands more efficiently, by using less water.

The $52.2-million federal nanotechnology complex opened up in Edmonton only last summer, but various university experts had already been studying drastically shrinking the size of electrical transistors, and developing the "lab-on-a-chip" that can do genetic diagnosis faster and more cheaply than conventional DNA tests.

The new provincial funds will help Edmonton's centre -- and other Alberta institutions -- in the competitive global recruitment drive for top nanotech minds. In February, it took $4.5 million from the university, Ottawa and province to lure Dr. Richard McCreery, a leading chemist, from Ohio to Edmonton.

The Institute for Nanotechnology has plans to boost its research and technical staff to 200, up from 80.

Today's announcement marks the province's biggest provincial commitment in this scientific field since it helped launch the project to build the federal institute in 2001.

Stelmach has been promising to include nanotechnology as part of his push to foster a bigger high-tech industry in Alberta, to diversify the provincial economy beyond natural resources and farming.

"It's seen by many as the stepping stone to the next major revolution in global technology," the premier said in a March speech to the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce.

The government has also formed an experts panel to recommend by this summer how Alberta can boost its venture capital and technology commercialization.

To date, the Alberta government has focused its grants on nanotechnology projects in energy, health and technologies such as wireless communication.

© The Edmonton Journal 2007

Copyright © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.

[ctown.myth]

That actually sounds pretty cool!

[Coldrsx]

people have no idea what NINT is gonna do...

[Boris2k7]

My parents got a tour of the building while they were in town for my mom's UofA reunion last year. Said it looks really cool inside and from the sounds of the tour quite promising.

[Coldrsx]

^it is THE TOP nano facility in canada and top 3 in world i believe.

[Waterlooson]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

^it is THE TOP nano facility in canada and top 3 in world i believe.

Waterloo will also be huge in nanotech/quantum computing:

http://www.nanotech.uwaterloo.ca/research/qnc.html

"The new QNC will be unique in Canada. No other institution, academic or industrial, possesses the infrastructure or expertise to conduct the ambitious, multi-disciplinary research in both Quantum Computing and Nanotechnology. This infrastructure, and the research collaborations it will foster, will put the University of Waterloo at the leading edge of Quantum-Nano research, enabling Waterloo to compete with the best laboratories in the World. "

http://www.nanotech.uwaterloo.ca/inf...Initiative.pdf


Check this out for the rendering (post #24):

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=127954

I believe construction will start any week now on this new building.

This facility will be considerably larger than the new national lab at the UofA.


http://www.iqc.ca/

[tokama]

That is great news for Alberta and Edmonton. It is nice to see the govt trying to move towards leading edge technology. Now let's hope there are some entrepreneurs who can capitalize.

[Coldrsx]

^bingo...but luckily the National Institute of Nanotechnology (NINT) is partnered with the University of Alberta and TEC Edmonton which brings research to market...

COLDFX was from the same kinda thing

[bigcanuck]

Man - U of A is one heckuva research facility now!! Now if just their islet transplant program becomes more available to the rest of the country - it's an amazing success story.

[Coldrsx]

^other than the UofT in some fields, it is surely tops in the nation.

[Rob D]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

people have no idea what NINT is gonna do...

Having done limited research into nanotechnology I would say this is going to be the biggest thing ever for Edmonton's economy in the not too distant future. Yes, even bigger than oil. Good for you guys!

[big W]

Rob I think that and lets never downplay the provincial government actually looking to invest money and forming AIM Corp.

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by Rob D

Having done limited research into nanotechnology I would say this is going to be the biggest thing ever for Edmonton's economy in the not too distant future. Yes, even bigger than oil. Good for you guys!

im hoping this will attract more hightech manu...like oh i dunno...3M into new business parks or office campuses downtown.

[ssiguy]

This is a great investment in not only Edmonton but all of Alberta. Sooner or later with new car technologies and increasing concern about the enviornment oil will begin to be a less sought after commodity and Alberta needs to diversify.
Also for investment investors have to begin to look at Alberta for more than just oil/gas investments.

[DizzyEdge]

This sounds like a great investment, especially with the boom of nanotechnology spyware being embedded in quarters.