Innovation Anthology #190:

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If you ask Dr. Paul Burrows to define nanotechnology, he’ll tell you
nanotechnology is not about size. It’s a state of mind.

An expert in solid state physics, Dr. Burrows traveled from Washington to address the recent Nanotech Showcase in Edmonton.

According to Dr. Burrows, manufacturing is still based on a stone age mindset. The real revolution will come when we embrace manufacturing at the very scale of the molecule. And that’s what nanoscience is all about.

DR. PAUL BURROWS: When Intel or AMD or Texas Instruments make their most complex chips now, they start from a lump of silicon. It’s a lump of rock. The tools have changed. We don’t bang away at the rocks and chip bits off them anymore. And the products have changed from axe heads and arrowheads to microprocessors and very advanced technology. Where we are is what I sometimes characterize as the micro stone age. We’re doing everything smaller, cleaner and more expensively. But the first revolution is when we take that step of designing the functionality that we want into the molecule and then making it build up. And that for me is at the heart of nanotechnology

That was Dr. Paul Burrows.

Thanks today to Alberta Ingenuity.

I’M CHERYL CROUCHER

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Alberta Ingenuity

Established in 2000, the Alberta Ingenuity Fund supports science and engineering research of the highest calibre, to create a prosperous future for the province of Alberta. It draws funding from a $1 billion endowment established in 2000 and managed by the Government of Alberta to build the capacity for innovation, especially in areas with long lasting social and economic impact.

Among its many programs, Alberta Ingenuity supports graduate students and university researchers, industrial research and commercialization partnerships, and has established several Centres and Institutes.

In January 2010, under the new Alberta Innovation Framework, Alberta Ingenuity was restructured and absorbed in the new agency Alberta Innovates Technology Solutions.

Program Date: 2008-12-04