Over the last two decades, advancements in nanotechnology have prompted a wide range of new products and applications, especially in the areas of energy, medicine, and the environment.  Products currently utilizing nanoscale materials include batteries, displays on cell phones and laptops, neutralizing powder for gas and liquid toxins, and jumbotron lamps in athletic stadiums – but this is only a small sample of the broad applications of nanotechnology.  Its rapid development is leading to more innovations in drugs that can access targeted parts of the body, sensors to detect diseases in their early stages, and greater possibilities for nanomanufacturing.  New water-filtration techniques, moreover, may prove effective in helping people around the world gain access to clean water.  Everything from transistors to sunglasses to solar plastics can and have been improved due to these exciting studies. 

As the field of nanotechnology continues to impress the world with its seemingly unlimited applications, scientists and policymakers are working together to ensure its responsible development.  All players involved in the research, development, and application of these new technologies are working to maximize benefits to society while also paying careful attention to potential risks and risk management strategies.  Because nanotechnology is so revolutionary, it requires the development of an equally innovative regulatory framework to oversee its progress.

In an effort to create that regulatory structure, government regulatory bodies are springing up all over the world.  The US, for instance, established the FDA Nanotechnology Task Force in 2006 and also created the National Nanotechnology Initiative to support safe and ethical research.  Similar methods are being implemented by the European Commission across the EU.  Nonetheless, engineered nanoparticles are not currently subject to much special regulation, especially in the areas of production, handling, and labeling, and there are few studies on which to base our knowledge of the potential risks.  With a highly interdependent world, it is, moreover, vital that cooperation across borders – among governments, academia, and industry – exists as well to mitigate future regulatory problems.

Those few studies, however, give reason for concern as they show that the smaller airborne particles, the more toxic and the higher their chemical reactivity become.  Everyone agrees that risk assessment methods currently in place cannot adequately address these potential issues.  Likewise, little information is available on the effects of these particles on human physiology. 

The threat of nanoparticles comes from two arenas: the free nanoparticles that may be airborne and those which form composites with other materials.  The health and environmental impact of free nanoparticles is the area most focused on due to the particles’ great mobility and reactivity.  These particles may be injected, inhaled, absorbed, or swallowed, and yet data on how they behave once inside an organ is still limited.  In addition to getting inside our bodies, nanoparticles can also contaminate our water, air, soil, and plants.  Again, at this time the effects of these pollutants are relatively unknown. 

Despite the great uncertainties, the demonstrated benefits of nanotechnology make the furthering of knowledge in this field worth some risk.  To mitigate any potential harms, a carefully considered system to regulate the advances is necessary.  Because its uses fall under so many categories, nanotechnology must be defined as a “combination product” and product review is somewhat more complex than normal due to its extreme size.  In response to these difficulties, many recommendations have been made regarding the proper regulatory framework. 

Without a doubt, the most essential element is continued research into the effects of nanoscale materials and the effectiveness of products.  Rules guiding required disclosure of information by manufacturers may also assist in the accumulation of this data.  The global scientific community, moreover, plays an important role and cooperation must be encouraged.  Despite the rapidly changing scene, transparent and reliable regulatory pathways should be put in place – narrow enough to be meaningful, but general enough to accommodate for future developments.

While regulation is absolutely essential, policymakers must also be cautious that they do not stifle the development of this now booming industry.  The excitement generated over the ways in which nanotechnology is already employed is only matched by the very real and significant impact that it promises to make in the next year, two years, ten years, and beyond.  In the not-so-distant future, we can expect to see rising prominence of nanoscale innovations in the drugs we use, the energy we generate, the digital technologies we use, and so much more.

By Lauren Barr

Fluidigm Corporation was founded in 1999 to commercialize integrated fluid circuits (IFC) – a technology developed by biophysicist Stephen Quake, PhD.   Although scientists predicted the emergence of this technology decades ago, there was a fundamental problem with the materials they were using, and the known techniques for controlling electric circuits were not easily transferable to account for the properties of liquids.  In 1998, Dr. Quake led a team at the California Institute of Technology to solve the problem by developing multilayer soft lithography.  Using a rubber-like material, he was able to create an effective seal to replace silicon as the material of choice and the resulting valve was trademarked as NanoFlex™.  Out of this innovation, integrated fluid circuits and Fludigm was born.

Today, Fluidigm’s mission is to “create and to lead a new industry based on integrated fluidic circuits.”  Recent product innovations seek to reduce cost per experiment and promote great leaps in productivity.  Product lines include the TOPAZ® system for protein crystallization (2002) and the BioMark™ Real-Time PCR System for gene expression and genotyping (2006).  Fluidigm’s portfolio includes more than 80 US patents and over 240 pending international patents with licenses coming from top institutions including Caltech, Harvard, and University of Alabama.

The applications of IFCs are numerous. The BioMark™ system introduces a useful solution for copy number variation studies and maximizes efficiency for gene-expression analysis.  In addition, it helps overcome obstacles for measuring relative gene expression within single cells and can be used for mid-multiplex genotyping as well.  The TOPAZ® Screening Chips raise the efficiency in protein crystallization.  Also, the SlingShot™ Kit quickly sequences and measures the concentration of DNA with great accuracy.

Fluidigm has a strong team comprised of leading scientists, advisors, and highly qualified management.  CEO, president, and co-founder Gajus Worthington has been a leader in the company from the beginning.  Before Fludigm, he served in staff and management positions at Actel Corporation.  Worthington graduated from Stanford with a B.S. in Physics and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering.  Fluidigm’s other co-founder, Dr. Stephen Quake, serves as chair of the Scientific Advisory Board.  He also co-chairs the bioengineering department at Stanford University and is an investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.  He holds degrees in Mathematics and Physics from Stanford and Oxford.

Fluidigm had hopes to go public earlier this year, though they have halted those efforts until more stable financial times.  Nonetheless, Fludigm Corp’s has fourteen investment firms fueling their continued growth.  Among the funders are Euclid SR Partners, InterWest Partners, Versant Ventures, and Lilly BioVentures.

Based in San Francisco, California, Fludigm distributes their products throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.  They have effectively cornered the microfluids market with their numerous patents and partnerships.  In 2003, GlaxoSmithKline became the first major company to utilize IFC systems, and now all top 20 pharmaceutical companies rely on Fluidigm’s techniques.  In addition, over 20 academic labs and many biotechnology companies are consistently finding new ways to implement IFCs. 

Fluidigm’s methods are attractive because they replace the expensive chemicals and materials needed for alternative robotic systems, allowing samples to be stretched farther.  IFCs are small, precise, and versatile; the reactions are observable due to clear elastomers that make up the IFCs; less sample and reagent is needed to get sufficient results; and the process is far gentler on living cells than its robotic counterparts.

As the company continues to develop and distribute its innovative IFC systems, the potential for advancing life science and like fields – including molecular diagnostics, personalized medicine, and wildlife conservation – is becoming more and more apparent.  According to the official website, IFCs “are doing for life science what integrated circuits have done for computing,” thus likening it to the revolution that occurred in the electronics industry when the integrated circuit (on which IFCs are based) replaced transistors and wiring and thus ignited an age of rapid advancement.  The tools that Fluidigm is developing may provide similar impetus in the field of biotechnology.

By Lauren Barr

Labels: life sciences

As technologies develop to find more precise answers to people’s questions by advancing structured data techniques, queries and knowledge bases, the underlying question of how the retrieved information is catalyzed may still remain unanswered.  The impact of these technologies lies in the value of generating knowledge from the information given in answer to a question.  But certain questions remain: Will the answers generated be precise enough? Is the information presented well enough to create tangible and valuable knowledge to the benefit of the user?

Structured data generators can already create tangible knowledge in a business setting, allowing a company to function more effectively.  An Ontario-based startup, Open Text, provides such enterprise content management technologies to businesses.  Businesses use this and similar technologies to organize and manage their information.  The technologies provided by Open Text help to convert this information to knowledge through tight organization and ease of accessibility. 

C. Lee Giles a professor of information sciences and technology at Pennsylvania State University suggests that search engines may someday be completely individualized. Users will design their own directories based on their own personal needs and interests. “Already, you can download the software to build your own small engine,” Giles highlights.  A more practical solution, at least in the short term, is what Giles calls the niche search engine, designed specifically to meet the needs of a group of people with similar interests: employees of a company or members of a profession, for example. By limiting its crawling to a specific subject area, the niche engine can burrow deeper, providing more consistently useful information.

A prime example is CiteSeer, a tool that Giles and colleague, Steve Lawrence created for the field of computer and information science. CiteSeer crawls the growing body of computer-science literature available on the web and ignores everything else. Because the amount of information it finds relevant is relatively small, it can offer users important features that generic engines can’t. In addition to allowing for keyword search, for example, CiteSeer indexes all its documents by citation. It even provides the context of each citation for easy reference, as well as links to citing documents, authors, and institutions. “It can help users see how important a given article has been within the field, and show the relationships between ideas,” Giles says. CiteSeer also allows users to submit links and content updates, making it more current and accurate than generic engines. It can do all these things automatically, Giles says, because its searches are strictly limited — to one subject area, but also to a single, standardized type of document: the scientific paper. Within its specialized realm, CiteSeer has proved itself tremendously useful. The engine now catalogs some 500,000 papers, and adds 10,000 more every month, Giles says. It receives over 100,000 visits per day. As another measure of its perceived value, a significant portion of the papers it now indexes are not found and retrieved by its crawler but are submitted by its users.

CiteSeer’s success has inspired Giles to build similar tools for other “domains.” Early this year, he unveiled eBizSearch, a niche engine for practitioners and students of e-business, built on the same software platform that powers CiteSeer. “The same thing can be done for biotechnology, or physics, or any other clearly defined subject area.”

Knowledge becomes tangible when it is organized and accessible, which is what these technologies strive to produce.  As the organization of information becomes more detailed, so will precision in the answers to questions.  Some analysts say a narrow focus better satisfies a search term. General search companies could benefit from creating niche- focused engines that search through industry specific databases focused, for example, on health care, travel, or medicine.   By building a brand in different niches, companies could gain a steadily growing, loyal audience that could then be attracted to a more general service.  The key the search market is reliability and accuracy in generated answers and niche search platforms have been demonstrating both. 

By Kiran Sarabu

Labels: Advanced Computing, Web Technologies

Vidyo, Inc. is based in Hackensack, New Jersey and supplies low-cost, high-quality video-conferencing solutions.  Vidyo provides leading price, performance and video quality conferencing based on its intellectual property in Scalable Video Coding.  SVC is a standard of video compression that is an extension of H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, or Advanced Video Coding.  According to Market Watch, Vidyo provides “high-quality video and network resiliency at an attractive cost to every desktop, including remote workers.”

Traditional H.264/AVC video coding is susceptible to transmission errors.  Scalable Video Coding, however, relies upon a high-quality bitstream of video that contains subset bitstreams.  These subsets can be decoded individually to H.264/AVC quality.  SVC addresses the problems of transmission degradation and connection quality.  Vidyo’s technology sends packets of information to end users only at the rate the connection can handle.  The technology has applications in streaming, conferencing, surveillance, broadcast, and storage of video.  SVC technology was standardized in July 2007 and Vidyo has been one of the first companies to leverage the recent standard’s approval.

Vidyo has gone through several rounds of VC funding and, according to InformationWeek, has been signing video conferencing service providers; Cisco has licensed Vidyo’s IP for its Unified Communications desktop suite.  Vidyo is especially cost effective through its use of Intel processors instead of more expensive Digital Signal Processor (DSP) chips.  Vidyo operates subscription-based pricing of $30/year per desktop, creating stable cash flow.

Vidyo’s competitors in internet-based or high-definition videoconferencing include Cisco’s WebEx, MegaMeeting.com, ACT Conferencing, and Tandberg.  However, few firms combine the two elements or retain IP in Scalable Video Coding.  Vidyo’s peers are competing in a rapidly growing industry.  A Global IP Solutions white paper found “the global market for videoconferencing endpoints was $1.1 billion in 2007, and will grow to $3.9 billion in 2014."

Vidyo’s low-cost, general IP network videoconferencing technology is easy to bring into locations previously inaccessible by HD-quality videoconferencing.  Vidyo will allow small, disparate offices of large companies to inexpensively communicate with each other through videoconferencing.  In turn, this increase in communications has the possibility of improving the firm’s efficiency and allowing lower level employees from around the world to network through telepresence.  During the XXIX Olympic Games, the Royal Yachting Association of England used Vidyo technology to stay connected with support staff in Qingdao, China.  Additionally, IP videoconferencing has applications in remote locations.  Vidyo has partnered with Attend Anywhere, the industry leader in remote medical services, to supply HD videoconferencing via desktops.

Vidyo also has an experienced leadership team behind it.  Ofer Shapiro is the President, CEO, and co-founder. Before starting Vidyo, Shapiro developed the first IP video conferencing bridge and gatekeeper technology for Radvision. According to Shapiro’s company biography, he “was also a contributor and one of the editors of the H.323 standard” He also has “over fifteen years of experience in bringing disruptive technology to market.”  Vidyo’s co-founder and Chief Scientist, Dr. Alex Eleftheriadis, is an award-winning researcher with “over 17 years of research experience in video compression and communications.”  He has also taught Electrical Engineering at Columbia University. According to Vidyo’s website, “Dr. Eleftheriadis has more than 100 publications, holds 12 patents, has served as the Editor of the MPEG-4 Systems specification, and is currently co-editor of the H.264 SVC Conformance specification.”

Vidyo is well positioned to market desktop HD videoconferencing solutions.  The company has an IP lead and experience in the industry and should be able to create a sustainable market niche.

By Doug Bojack

Labels: Advanced Computing, Web Technologies

As the US Presidential election has come to a close, we thought it would be interesting to briefly examine the use of web 2.0 applications in the campaign and compare them to the technology trends that emerged during previous campaigns.

While pervasive use of web 2.0 applications like Facebook, Flickr, MySpace and Twitter has allowed individuals (especially younger generations) to easily get involved as campaign supporters or pundits from their dorm rooms or workplaces, a more surprising trend emerged later in the campaign period. Web 2.0 portals like Facebook and MySpace allowed individuals to broadcast not only their opinions and preferences, but also to distribute viral video advertisements created by the presidential campaigns and also by individual supporters. 

Viral videos are short video clips that are uploaded to the web for the purpose of stating an opinion, promoting a cause and connecting to the large audience in a cheap, direct and interactive way. Some of the companies that have been on the forefront of viral video include: You Tube, Brightcove, and CnnBCvideo. Candidates leverage these venues by creating online channels to publish announcements and advertisement videos that encourage supporters to organize efficiently, while garnering their attention and support. Soon before last night's election, a viral video made by CnnBCVideos, began circulating on the web. The video encouraged voters to vote because one vote can make a difference, while showing them the resentful reaction of the public when they become the cause of a failed election.

The ease of viral distribution over the internet has been demonstrated in previous presidential campaigns’ strategies, perhaps most notably in Howard Dean’s bid in 2004. Dean relied on the use of blogs and social networking sites like “meetup”, which allows members to find and join common interest groups within their own community, to circulate his political agenda, facilitate group meetings, and organize collection of a large amount of contributions. Subsequently, in 2007, Ron Paul made his first online video interview that took place in a college dorm room, allowing him to discuss “his views on foreign policy, the Constitution, and the impact of the internet on his Presidential campaign”. This paved the way for more web-friendly campaigns that are able to reach out to important demographics of voters, not only in an economical way, but more importantly through a method of social interaction that mimics their normal interpersonal communication channels.   

As individuals (especially in younger generations) continue to adopt newer and more innovative communications technologies to share ideas with one another it will continue to be important for political campaigns at all levels to leverage these same platforms. Engaging the citizenry by involving them in discussions about topics that directly affect them is important, but in order to increase civic engagement it is equally important to allow younger generations to be politically active using the same technology that became part of their daily lives.  Presidential hopeful John Edwards believed in the power of social networks as fertile grounds for mass mobilization but his use of Second Life, a 3-D virtual world created by its residents, came perhaps a few years ahead of its time as Second Life does not yet have the critical mass of users to have a deciding impact on a campaign. As the prominence of virtual reality is increasing rapidly, however, Second Life could become one of the game-changing technologies used in upcoming elections.  

Labels: Web Technologies

TIU has seen promise in recent months of printed electronics as a new standard for electronic circuitry.  Electronic circuits would be mapped out on a computer and printed onto thin and flexible substrates using traditional (ink-jet or screen) printing methods.  In addition to the promise of thinner, lighter, and more versatile electronic devices, including long-dreamed-of products like self-changing text on paper, printed electronics also has a potential advantage of possibly drastically lowering production costs and augmenting production capacities.  For that promise to be realized, however, certain obstacles with the available materials must be overcome. 

Researchers have recently been interested in the possible use of organic compounds, like those used with much success in OLEDs, for the conductive inks for printed devices.  Thus far, however, the small organic molecules that have been found to reach the conductivity standards of silicon, are very difficult to deposit in a stable, uniform film.  Large molecule organic semiconductors are well-suited to create stable thin films, but do not have nearly the same conductivity of their smaller-molecule counterparts. 

A team from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Seoul National University (SNU) have made inroads on this problem by creating a new type of organic semiconductors that are more stable and easily controlled than existing compounds. In their paper entitled “Structure and properties of small molecule-polymer blend semiconductors for organic thin film transistors”, the team of researchers found a polymer which distributes itself evenly on the top and bottom of a film substrate.  The active region on the bottom of the film signifies a major breakthrough towards large-scale manufacturing.  Also, the researchers have found that their specific blend of polymer and organic semiconductors offers better performance than the organic semiconductor alone.

Thus, companies who are beginning to commercialize printed electronic devices have a great deal to look forward to with regards to the disruptive effects of printed electronics on the larger electronics market in the future.  The development of new conductive materials and their methods of distribution onto substrates in the laboratory will continue to drive down the cost of printed electronics to levels that will completely transform the entire market for electronic devices.  Widespread vetting and funding of the academic research in materials sciences will allow for the printed electronics market to fulfill its potential.  

Labels: Advanced Computing

Founded in 2006, Ausra is a technology company which focuses on solar-thermal electrical (STE) power production. STE power is an advanced form of solar power generation that utilizes heat rather than light (the method more commonly found in solar panels). Based in Palo Alto, California, this relatively young company has already netted over $40 million in investments from firms such as Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The attraction of investors to Ausra is that their approach to solar power focuses on utility, large-scale, and cheaply produced panels which are also able to generate more power than other designs. This improved approach utilizes compact linear fresnel reflectors (or CLFRs). According to IeeeSpectrum.com, “The mirrors appear to be solid but are actually made up of many smaller, movable reflectors, each with a slight curve. The system uses nearly flat mirrors at ground level that focus the sun's light onto water-filled steel tubes. When the water boils, it directly drives a steam turbine to generate electricity.”

Ausra’s innovations are based on technological designs by the company’s CEO, David Mills. Mills has been a researcher since 1975, and from 1980 to 2006, he conducted solar energy research at the University of Sydney in Australia. Although Fortune reports that solar power only represents roughly 1% of the power grid in the U.S., it is a booming field. In July, 2008, Ausra opened its first factory in Nevada to begin production of its thermal solar panels and mirrors. The demand for land, particularly in the ‘sun rich’ American southwest has increased dramatically in recent years. Companies such as BrightSource Energy are making a grab for acreage to get a share of what is estimated to be a solar power market worth 45 billion by 2020. With immense national and international attention being paid to the development of green technologies and renewable energy sources, it can be expected that investment in the development of solar-energy will increase. An economically viable and productive method, Ausra’s solar-thermal electrical (STE) approach is on the cutting edge of innovation for solar-energy technology.

There are numerous economic and political implications that go along with the wide-spread implementation of solar-thermal power in the United States. Ausra claims that it would only require about 8500 sq. mi. (92x92, specifically) of its CLFR panels to reduce United States green house gas emissions by 50 percent. Going further than that, it may be possible for Americans to get a majority of their power from solar energy, particularly from solar-thermal electricity, because solar-thermal is capable of being stored, and generated on demand during day or night. Such a shift towards solar-thermal and away from dependence on foreign oil would have dramatic impact on U.S. political relations with various countries around the world, particularly members of OPEC. Austra’s innovative technological foundations paired with the emerging clean-energy market (and the demand for that energy) give Ausra the potential for a strong, successful future.

Labels: Advanced Energy

NovaWave Technologies is a designer and manufacturer of advanced chemical sensors for both the military and commercial industries. The company’s proprietary technology revolves around its use of laser and photonic optical technologies to enhance sensor sensitivity, precision, and accuracy. According to NovaWave, the company’s core competencies include optical spectroscopies, laser physics, chemical detection, and microfluidics. Moreover, its staff has “pioneered numerous developments in absorption and fluorescence spectroscopies, non-linear spectroscopies, and optical scattering methods.” Given the extreme accuracy and sensitivity of NovaWave’s laser-enhanced sensors, the technology has numerous potential applications including: chemical/biological agent detection, trace explosives detection, greenhouse gas/pollution monitoring, for homeland security, metrology, biomedical applications and applied research. NovaWave offers its customers high scalability, low-cost, customizable products with rapid time-to-market. Not surprisingly, the US government, specifically the Department of Defense, has taken great interest in NovaWave’s optical technology. From 2000-2007 NovaWave has received just over $5.1 million in defense contracts and research funding. While the military certainly represents a huge market potential for NovaWave, the commercial sector is also rife with opportunities. Given the highly adaptive nature of NovaWave’s products and the vast number of potential applications of optical sensors in various industries, assessing the market value proves difficult. However, according to the-infoshop.com, by 2012 the value of the chemical sensor industry in the US will reach $5 billion. Moreover, “Demand for chemical sensors based on emerging technologies, such as optical sensors, will see the fastest gains.” Clearly, NovaWave has a long-term market lush with opportunities for investment and development.

NovaWave Technology is an advanced photonics company based in Redwood city, California. Founded in 2002, the company’s mission is to develop optically-based chemical detection instrumentation, primarily for the military but also for civilian markets. Recently NovaWave expanded research into microfluidics for biomedical applications in clinical diagnostics. NovaWave is in the process of securing partnerships with key industry leaders in order to streamline its manufacturing processes and best serve its customers.