Nanotech draws support

Inventors, entrepreneurs and researchers at the Nanotechnology Commercialization Conference on Monday presented models of new kinds of nanotechnology, a growing field that organizers said would bypass biotechnology and have a huge economic impact within the next decade.

Nanotechnology is the control of matter at one one-millionth of a millimeter -- the smallest possible level of manipulation. Scientists can apply this technology to everything from drugs to lampshades.

Held at the Marriott Newton Hotel, the Massachusetts Innovation Technology Exchange dedicated the conference to supporting economic development and the growth of jobs in New England.

"Agilent [Technologies] is looking for new ideas and new partners," said Agilent representative Jim Lynch. "We find that there are several promising branches of science out there capable of founding new jobs and opportunities, and we think nanotechnology is one of those branches."

The conference allowed many companies to present their products to potential investors interested in the economic and financial opportunities that nanotechnology presents.

"The vision of the National Nanotechnology Initiative is to create a future in which the ability to understand and control matter on the nanoscale leads to a revolution in technology and industry," said policy analyst and keynote speaker Phillip Lippel.

In the field of psychological and health nanotechnology, ExQor Technologies, Inc. presented a new way to use Haldol, a drug that affects dopamine levels in the brain, on specific cells in only certain regions of the brain. This technique can lead to a dramatic decrease in side effects, said president and CEO Franco Vitaliano.

"We will apply this drug to the treatment of dopamine-related diseases such as Parkinson's disease, which results from too low a level of dopamine, and schizophrenia, a result of levels too high of dopamine," Vitaliano said.

Several college and university representatives also attended the conference to attract investments for their science departments.

Xtalic Corporation, affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also called MITX, tried to entice potential investors with a new metal coating to replace hard chromium coating, which is used on many everyday objects. This new, cheaper "nanocrystalline" technology eliminates the major environmental, health and safety concerns involved in hard chromium coating.

"Xtalic has already initiated discussions with multiple, large potential end-users who have expressed strong interest in our technology," said Xtalic co-founder Chris Schuh. "We think we can replace chromium with our environmentally friendly metal coatings at a lower price."

Another product presented at the MITX conference could be used to measure reactions of objects under controlled temperature to exposure to various gases.

"We've applied it to drug tablets, we've applied it to catalysts," said Allan Smith, president and founder of Masscal Corp. "When a chemical reaction occurs on a surface, mass changes, heat changes and stiffness changes. It can cost up to $50,000 to measure each of these, adding up to around $150,000."

But using the new technology, it would cost only $50,000 to measure mass, heat and stiffness simultaneously, Smith said.

Advanced Conductors is developing in the nanotechnology industry bendable ceramic films to replace brittle glass layers in displays, solar cells and solid-state lighting. These films can be applied to improve the robustness of computer and TV screens, organic displays, solar cells or, in the future, even pull-down lampshades.

"Roll-to-roll screens like those on Warner Brother's 'The Red Planet' are simply not possible today," said founder John Lock. "The problem is the rigid ceramic that would crack if bent. What Advanced Conductors is working on is a new bendable, flexible ceramic made by polymers."

MITX representative Jeff Brown said the conference helped inventors and investors exchange ideas.

"We try to connect entrepreneurs with possible supporters for their work," he said. "Our primary emphasis is on commercialization and turning these ideas into possible jobs."