Purdue Engineering Nanotech

Emerging nanotechnology made its way into more than $30 billion in manufactured goods in 2005, more than double the year before, experts tell UPI’s Nano World. “The overall story that we’re seeing for nanotechnology is motion out of the lab and onto the shelves,” said New York-based nanotechnology analyst Matthew Nordan.

Asia is rising in the nanomaterial supply field. “You have more than 30 companies in China alone when it comes to ceramic nanoparticles, with 120 in the rest of the world. You see CNT Co. in Korea, with carbon nanotubes at 200 dollars a kilogram, undercutting Western suppliers by more than 50 percent. That’s pretty dramatic,” Nordan said. “Asia can compete aggressively not only in labor, but in capital. In the long run, nanomaterials will probably by owned by East Asian companies.”

Governments, corporations and venture capitalists worldwide spent $9.6 billion on nanotechnology research and development in 2005, up 10 percent from 2004. Corporations grew the most in spending, with $4.5 billion on nanotechnology R&D worldwide in 2005, up 18 percent from 2004. Of this, $1.9 billion was in North America, $1.7 billion in Asia, $850 million in Europe and $70 million in the rest of the world.

“We earlier predicted that government spending would be surpassed by corporate spending. It’s almost there,” Nordan said.

I didn’t expect to see number$ this large, this soon. It can’t all be nanomaterial vendors supplying nano-researchers.

The hype about any advancing technology becomes reality with transfer from the research bench to sales of manufactured products. Looks like nanotech is reaching a market threshhold.