About the Nanotechnology Coordinating Office

The Nanotechnology Coordinating Office has been established as a first step in making Minnesota more competitive in Nanotechnology.  This office will provide a "one stop" interface between the University and the business community, and eventually between the University and the State of Minnesota, as it relates to nanotechnology efforts.

The goals of this office are the dissemination of information about nano activities both at the University and at local business.  An extremely important aspect of this office is the communication between widely disparate groups such as the Institute of Technology and the Academic Health Center.  The result of this dissemination will be the development of joint projects and funding proposals within the University, and between the University and the business community, and the transfer of technology from the University to industry.  The long term goal of the office is to work with University administrators and local business leaders to develop plans for both a State of Minnesota supported nanotechnology initiative similar to those adopted across the country and to investigate the possibility of federal nanotech funding for Minnesota.  The business community is generally strongly supportive of these ideas, but is looking to the University to take a leading role.

The office will strongly leverage the existing personnel and technology base at the University, and will merge with MiNTeC, the nanotechnology facilities organization developed for the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN) award.  Administration of the NNIN award is carried out by a full time staff member who gathers and organizes information on the nano work going on in the MiNTeC labs.  Most of this work is being done by University of Minnesota researchers.  The NNIN administrator also develops promotional materials on the nano work being done in these facilities.  It is expected that this information can be used to achieve the goals outlined above.

A second staff member was hired to develop web based information dissemination, and to organize regular University-wide nanotechnology seminars with invited outside speakers, especially local industry.  The web administrator will maintain a graphically appealing site with extensive material that can be hyperlinked to departments, specific researchers, graduate students, areas of interest, materials or molecules being studied and facilities in which the research was done.

The web site is intending to work with the library to provide hyperlinks to specific papers that have been written.  The site will also provide notices of upcoming funding opportunities and competitions, and be supplemented by other communication tools such as a Minnesota nano newsletter and a computerized bulletin board.  This office is intended to work with Atom Works and other regional nanotechnology resources to promote Minnesota nanotech.  In addition, staff in this office may be able to assist faculty with preparing graphical content for nano proposals and individual faculty web sites.