GENERAL COMPANY NEWS

•  Arrowhead subsidiary Unidym has licensed its carbon nanotube technology to Nanotech Catheter Solutions (NCS) for use in miniaturized medical devices for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. Under the terms of the agreement, Unidym will receive a 20% equity stake in NCS.

"Our goal is to license our intellectual property and/or supply nanotubes to third parties commercializing products incorporating carbon nanotubes outside of our focus of electronics," stated Art Swift, Unidym's CEO. "We intend to replicate this model in other areas such as nanotube-based therapeutics, diagnostics, field emission displays, nonvolatile memory and composite materials."

•  The W.M. Keck Foundation has awarded $1 million to Drexel University, Philadelphia, US, to establish the Keck institute of attofluidic nanotube-based probes. The goal of the two-year initiative is to design and build nanotube-tipped probes that are capable of interrogating single organelles inside living cells. Probes will be capable of metering and transferring fluids with volumes of approximately one attoliter (10–18 of a liter) while performing electrical, optical and mechanical measurements.

•  Advance Nanotech has provided an update on its ULTRATUBE collaboration with Dow Corning and the University of Cambridge. Researchers have mixed polymers with carbon nanotubes to create low-cost, nano-composite films that interact with laser light to turn a continuous light beam into a train of ultrashort pulses, with durations of only a few hundred femtoseconds.

"[The fact] that we can demonstrate a device the size of a paperback book with these performance characteristics not only confirms the potential of nanotechnology but also unlocks new market possibilities," said Claudio Marinelli, Advance Nanotech's entrepreneur in residence at the University of Cambridge.

Short-pulse lasers are used for processing (drilling, cutting and micromachining) a wide range of materials, as well as for medical imaging, basic research, instrumentation, inspection, measurement and control applications.

•  BudgetSensors, a Bulgarian manufacturer of silicon and silicon nitride probes, as well as accessories for atomic force microscopes (AFMs), has opened a state of the art nanotechnology centre in Sofia, Bulgaria. The facility is located at the firm's headquarters and features AFMs from a variety of manufacturers, as well as related equipment.

INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

•  Lux Research has been looking at the impact of nanotechnology on cleantech. According to Lux, governments across the world invested $1.1 billion in 2006 on nano-enabled cleantech, a 16% increase over 2005 funding, but just 5% of cleantech funding overall.

"The rapid increase in nano-enabled cleantech patents and publications relative to overall cleantech numbers indicates that nanotechnology's impact on cleantech, though small at present, is growing at a fast clip," said Jaideep Raje. "However, the near-term cleantech applications of nanotechnology are likely to come in more mundane forms like catalysts, coatings, and additives – not through big-ticket applications like next-generation photovoltaics."

•  The South Korean government's 2010 Industrial Vision plan aims to position the country amongst the top four industrial nations in the world by 2010. According to analyst firm Frost & Sullivan, the government has identified nanotechnology, semiconductors and robotics, among others, as key technologies of the future and has framed policies that will promote the future growth of the industry.

PEOPLE

•  mPhase has appointed Fred Allen as CEO of its subsidiary, AlwaysReady. Allen's experience in the sector includes leading the efforts of Engelhard Corporation in a rechargeable lithium-ion battery materials program, as well as shaping the company's nanotechnology growth initiative.

"I am excited by the opportunity to join AlwaysReady and to drive the effort to commercialize its smart nanobattery and family of magnetometers," said Allen. "Our initial focus will be on prototype fabrication to test the functionality of both technologies in select applications."

•  Thomas D Mino has resigned as CEO and board member of Lumera, but will continue to act as a consultant to the company. Lumera designs molecular structures and polymer compounds for communications, computing and bioscience industries through its subsidiary, Plexera Bioscience. Joseph J Vallner, a current Lumera board member, will serve as the firm's president and interim CEO.

"Following today's announcement of our CEO's departure, I want to take the opportunity to reassure our investors and partners. There can always be the potential for disruption when a CEO departs; however, I believe that based on the strength of the management team and our talented group of employees we have never been in better shape to deliver on our expectations," said Vallner.