And that means jobs. Nanotechnology (the Greek prefix nano means “billionth of a specific unit”) is rapidly moving from the laboratory into the marketplace. Over the next decade, the National Science Foundation estimates, the United States will need 800,000 to 1 million nanotechnology workers. “This will be a core of the American economy,” says Dr. Mihail Roco of the National Nanotechnology Initiative, a program established two years ago to support research. By 2011, Roco estimates, the global nanotechnology market will be worth $1 trillion.
The National Science Foundation has established nanotechnology centers at six universities. Researchers at Rice focus on biological applications, while those at Cornell and Columbia work on computing. Because they conduct electricity, nanotubes can be used in molecular circuits much smaller and faster than today’s semiconductors. Scientists at the other centers are tackling a vexing challenge of the nanoworld: how to economically build structures that are one-thousandth the diameter of a human hair, using magnetic fields and chemical processes to coax atoms into patterns for medicines and other materials.
To attract a new generation of scientists, the NSF requires each of its nanotechnology centers to develop a K-12 outreach program. At Rice, chemist James Tour created “NanoKids,” a computer program featuring animated molecule characters. If nanotechnology makes learning science fun, there should be a million recruits in no time.
