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Baolab creates nanoscale MEMS inside the CMOS wafer

Uses standard CMOS technologies and lines to slash MEMS costs by up to two thirds

Barcelona, Spain - 8 March 2010. Baolab Microsystems has announced a new technology to construct nanoscale MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) within the structure of the actual CMOS wafer itself using standard, high volume CMOS lines, which is much easier and quicker with fewer process steps than existing MEMS fabrication techniques that build the MEMS on the surface of the wafer. This significantly reduces the costs of a MEMS by up to two thirds and even more if several different MEMS are created together on the same chip.

The Baolab NanoEMS' technology uses the existing metal layers in a CMOS wafer to form the MEMS structure using standard mask techniques. The Inter Metal Dielectric (IMD) is then etched away through the pad openings in the passivation layer using vHF (vapour HF). The etching uses equipment that is already available for volume production and takes less than an hour, which is insignificant compared to the overall production time. The holes are then sealed and the chip packaged as required. As only standard CMOS processes are used, NanoEMS MEMS can be directly integrated with active circuitry as required.

"We have solved the challenge of building MEMS in a completely different way," explained Dave Doyle, Baolab?s CEO. "Existing MEMS technologies are slow, expensive and require specialist equipment. They have to be either built on top of the wafer at a post production stage or into a recess in the wafer. By contrast, our new NanoEMS technology enables MEMS to be built using standard CMOS technologies during the normal flow of the CMOS lines."

Baolab has successfully created MEMS devices using standard 0.18um 8? volume CMOS wafers with four or more metal layers, and has achieved minimum feature sizes down to 200 nanometres. This is an order of magnitude smaller than is currently possible with conventional MEMS devices, bringing the new NanoEMS MEMS into the realm of nanostructures, with the additional benefits of smaller sizes, lower power consumption and faster devices.

Baolab will be making a range of discrete MEMS including RF switches, electronic compasses and accelerometers, along with solutions that combine several functions in one chip. The prototype stage has already proved the NanoEMS technology and evaluation samples will be available later this year. These are aimed at handset designers and manufacturers, and Power Amplifier and RF Front End Module markets.

For further information on Baolab Microsystems, please go to www.baolab.com. e-mail: info@baolab.com

Institut Politècnic del Campus de Terrassa, 08220 Terrassa, Spain.

Tel.: +34-93-394-17-70

Yale University selects Vistec EBPG5000plus Electron-Beam Lithography Systemfor Advanced Nanotechnology Research

Vistec Lithography, Inc. announced today that Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, selected Vistec's EBPG5000plus electron-beam lithography system for its future nanotechnology research programs. As part of the Yale Institute for Nanoscience and Quantum Engineering, it will enhance the effectiveness of research and education at Yale in emerging nanotechnology and will encourage multidisciplinary research involving Yale faculty, its students, and associated world-wide research partners.

The Yale EBPG5000plus represents the continued development of the highly successful EBPG product series. The high performance lithography system is based on reliable and well-proven system architecture. With further enhancements in resolution, noise reduction and beam stability, Yale's Vistec EBPG5000plus is set to generate structures to less than 8nm on substrates up to 150mm in diameter, including fragments and special substrates. Its electron-optical column (TFE source) is rated for acceleration voltages of 20, 50, and 100kV. The system is equipped for true 100kV / 1mm performance under regular electron-optical conditions with a wide current capability for high throughput applications. The pattern generator operates at up to 50MHz. The system incorporates an interactive graphical user interface (GUI) that provides ease of use for diverse,

multiuser, university type environments.

"The acquisition of the Vistec EBPG5000plus will enable the Yale research community to explore the expanding field of nanotechnology with a state-of-the-art electron-beam lithography patterning system. We will utilize the system for a wide variety of applications including Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering and Bio-technology. The Vistec system will allow Yale to remain at the forefront of nanotechnology today and well into the future", said Dr. Michael Rooks, Facilities Director of the Yale Institute for Nanoscience and Quantum Engineering. "The EBPG system will provide the Yale community with not only high quality nanolithography patterning, but with high flexibility and user friendliness for our various multidisciplinary activities. Vistec's system is perfect for our nanotechnology requirements."

"Vistec is pleased to be associated with Yale University. We look forward to our co-operation with Yale?s leading edge nanotechnology researchers and their programs", noted Rainer Schmid, General Manager Vistec Lithography, Inc. "Vistec?s association with Yale and its electron-beam research scientists will hopefully lead to further software and hardware enhancements for our highly successful EBPG series."

Yale Institute for Nanoscience and Quantum Engineering

The Yale Institute for Nanoscience and Quantum Engineering (YINQE) is a new initiative at Yale University intended to provide nanofabrication,microscopy and material characterization to disparate scientific disciplines centered on nanoscale research projects. YINQE builds on existing research strengths in engineering and the physical and life sciences to broaden interdisciplinary activity among faculty and students across the entire campus. The Institute provides improved nanomaterials fabrication capabilities, together with centralized shared characterization. These facilities complement Yale's microelectronics clean room, computational facilities and materials synthesis laboratories. Visit: http://nano.yale.edu for more information.

Konarka Announces Business Collaboration and

Strategic Investment with Konica Minolta

Konarka and Konica Minolta Joint Development Expected to Yield Production and Global Distribution of High Performance Organic Photovoltaic Panels

Lowell, Mass. – March 2, 2010 – Konarka Technologies, Inc., an innovator in development and commercialization of Konarka Power Plastic®, a material that converts light to energy, today announced the company has signed a comprehensive R&D collaboration and strategic investment agreement with Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc. (Konica Minolta). The companies reached agreement to start full-scale collaboration in April in the joint development and distribution of organic thin-film photovoltaics. Under the agreement, Konica Minolta has invested $20 million in Konarka.

”Konica Minolta positions the organic thin-film photovoltaic business as one of the most promising in the environment and energy field, next to the organic light emitting diode (OLED) business, where our photographic film manufacturing technology is leading mass production,“ commented Masatoshi Matsuzaki, CEO at Konica Minolta. ”We are pleased to be collaborating with Konarka, the first and world leader to commercialize organic thin-film photovoltaics because of its state-of-the-art polymer technology and its mass production facility in New Bedford, Massachusetts.“

The companies will organize respective strengths in materials, optical and coating technologies as well as joint development, aiming to improve organic thin-film photovoltaic performance including higher conversion efficiency, longer life and lower manufacturing costs, to realize mass production of next-generation photovoltaics. Currently, Konarka’s roll-to-roll process simplifies manufacturing scale-up, has significantly lower capital and labor costs than previous generations of solar cells and can be produced using existing coating and printing equipment.

Upon successful results of the joint development milestones, the companies are expected to establish a joint venture company in Japan to produce organic thin-film photovoltaic panels. Konica Minolta will be Konarka’s lead Asian business partner headquartered in Japan.

”We are delighted that Konica Minolta recognizes the value of Konarka’s patent-protected thin film solar material that is lightweight and flexible, uniquely lending itself to a wide range of applications where traditional photovoltaics are not effective,“ commented Howard Berke, executive chairman and co-founder of Konarka. ”With our collaboration efforts, Konarka and Konica Minolta are well positioned to deliver efficient, next-generation photovoltaic panels to meet the growing demand for personal and commercial solar energy solutions around the world.“

Konarka will be exhibiting with its key product application partner, Toppan Forms, at PV Expo Japan 2010, March 3-5, 2010 in Tokyo, Japan, booth #’s 31-32. For more information on the event, visit: http://www.pvexpo.jp/index_en.html

About Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc.

Konica Minolta Group globally offers diverse products, services, and solutions in a wide range of fields. Our business domain is broad, including office equipment, optical devices, medical imaging, graphic imaging and measuring instruments. Its largest office equipment business sector consecutively offers advanced network document solutions, taking advantage of its strengths in high-speed, color and networking technologies.

To create new pillar businesses in the environment and energy field, Konica Minolta is actively developing unique and cutting-edge technologies on the basis of proprietary materials, optical, nano-fabrication and imaging technologies. OLED lighting is notable development activities underway with potential for use in various applications. Organic thin-film photovoltaic panel is also typical example of the promising business in the environment and energy field. For additional information, visit http://konicaminolta.com

About Konarka Technologies, Inc.

Konarka develops and manufactures solar plastic films that convert light to energy – anywhere. As the leading developer of polymer-based, organic photovoltaic (OPV) technology that provides a source of renewable power in a variety of form factors, Konarka has a broad portfolio of patents, technology licenses and an accomplished technical, scientific and manufacturing team. Manufactured at low cost and low energy consumption, the company's Konarka Power Plastic® technology is lightweight, flexible, scalable and adaptable for use in a variety of commercial, industrial, government and consumer applications. Konarka Technologies is headquartered in Lowell, Mass., U.S.A. and has a full scale production manufacturing facility in New Bedford, Mass. U.S.A., with European headquarters in Nurnberg, Germany, business development offices in Asia and a research and development facility in Austria. For additional information, visit http://www.konarka.com

All trademarks recognized.

Exclusive introduction of Coatema´s new Minicoater

at the Printed Electronics in Dresden

Thomas Kolbusch, Vice President

The Printed Electronics in 2010 is one of the World’s largest events on printed and organic electronics. Coatema Coating Machinery - one of the pioneers in these fields with installations at VTT, Holst Centre, IPMS Dresden, IAP Potsdam and several other leading R&D institutions worldwide - is going to present a new development for small-scale, cost-efficient and multifunctional R&D roll to roll equipment.

The new unit called Minicoater includes different options of coating and printing systems, like doctor blade, slot die, impregnation, micro roller and engraved roller printing and a laminating device. With a working width of 100 mm the ink consumption can be minimized for the R&D process. Further the Coatema Minicoater is equipped with a 350 mm hot air dryer in EEx-layout. A laminating station provides the possibility to include encapsulation processes in the operation. Reproducibility is possible without any compromises. The multifunctional unit is equipped with 3-4 motors, load cells and a backward running operation mode. Those features make small sample production an easy operation. The whole unit is enclosed and can also be offered for glove box operations.

The Minicoater is released for publication at the Printed Electronic in Dresden. There Coatema´s Minicoater will be shown for the first time.

As Dr. Andreas Giessmann - owner of Coatema Coating Machinery - stated ”this will be only one highlight of new equipment in 2010“, Coatema is ramping up a new range of lab and pilot coaters this year to support the ongoing success of the lab solutions programme of Coatema.

All units can be tested and rented for coating and printing trials in the Coatema R&D centre - with 11 pilot coaters and one production line one of the biggest centres worldwide.

The scale-up specialists at Coatema are looking forward to meet you at an exciting exhibition in Dresden. Do not miss the opportunity to meet us to discuss your coating, printing and laminating projects in the field of printed electronics. The Minicoater: Exclusive introduction at the Printed Electronics in Dresden Coatema R&D Centre Coatema Headquarter

About Coatema: The company Coatema Coating Machinery deals with the mechanical engineering for coating, laminating and printing plants for R2R applications. For more than 30 years now, Coatema has been developing solutions for the most different markets like textile, foil, paper and renewable energies. This can be lab plants, pilot plants as well as entire turn-key production solutions for the coating and laminating of R2R substrates. One area of Coatema, the R&D Solutions, deals with the service for coating and laminating like e.g. Coatema´s coating lab with more than 10 pilot plants and on production plant with a working with of 2.000 mm. An annual international coating symposium completes Coatema´s large range of services. Another of Coatema´s specialties is the special mechanical engineering for scale-up processes in the area of new technologies, like e.g. fuel cells or nano technologies. Actual information about the company: www.coatema.com

PI Publishes Digital Flash Catalog on

Piezo Technology and Nanopositioning

Auburn, MA, Feb 2010 -- PI (Physik Instrumente) has published a digital flash catalog on Piezo Technology and Nanopositioning Products

The 560 page digital publication also contains extensive tutorials on piezo motion technology, the fundamentals of nanopositioning, micropositioning and nanometrology.

The catalog can be accessed here:

http://physikinstrumente.com/en/digi-catalog/

Nanopositioning / Piezo Technology Examples Covered in the Catalog:

Scanning Stages for Super Resolution Microscopy
6-Axis Hexapod Robots for Precision Alignment and Positioning
Image Stabilization Mirrors and Scanners
Fundamentals and Advantages of Parallel-Kinematics in Nanopositioning Applications
Ultrasonic ceramic motors for automation
Capacitive nanometrology sensor systems
Reliability data on piezo ceramic actuators
Piezo Worm type high-force ceramic linear motors
Miniature motors for autofocus cell phone type cameras
Mirror alignment systems for large optical telescopes
Motorized precision actuators and stages for semiconductor applications
Digital & Analog nanopositioning motion controllers & piezo drivers
Servo & stepper motor controllers
Photonics alignment systems, photometers

About PI

PI is a leading manufacturer of nanopositioning systems, piezo stages, piezo linear motors and precision motion-control equipment. PI has been developing and manufacturing standard & custom precision products with piezoceramic and electromagnetic drives for 35+ years. The company has been ISO 9001 certified since 1994 and provides innovative, high-quality solutions for OEM and research. PI is present worldwide with eight subsidiaries and total

Lux Research: Understanding the Budding ”Green Building“ Market

Join us for a Webinar on March 10

Space is limited.

Reserve your Webinar seat now at:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/300313794

Nearly 40% of primary energy and a whopping 75% of all electricity flows to the numerous residential, commercial, and government buildings in the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). The growing trend towards ”Green Buildings“ promises to slash the energy inputs used for temperature control and ventilation, lighting, appliances and electronics. Aside from clear environmental benefits, green buildings represent significant cost savings, however, payback periods are often too long for some segments of the market. Despite some hurdles, the market for green building related technologies and services is already worth tens of billions of dollars and it is growing rapidly on the back of energy cost and regulatory drivers, in addition to growing green sentiment.

Join us to hear Lux Research’s first-of-its-kind analysis of the key drivers, technologies and services in the green buildings area, and how they have penetrated and will infiltrate the market. Learn:

• What ”green“ technology is in the building equipment material and service segment

• What the pertinent technology and service categories are

• Which regions and technologies have the most favorable prospect for adoption

• What the market size and growth forecast is for existing and emerging green technologies

• What the ramifications are of green buildings on adjacent market and technology sectors

Title: Lux Research: Understanding the Budding ”Green Building“ Market

Date: Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements

PC-based attendees

Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Macintosh®-based attendees

Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer

GE Healthcare, Intel and Mayo Clinic

Explore New Models of Health Care Delivery

Yearlong Study to Focus On Evaluating Potential Benefits of

Remote Monitoring Device for Home-Based Patient Care

ROCHESTER, Minn. - GE Healthcare, Intel Corporation and Mayo Clinic are investigating a new model of health care delivery for patients at increased risk of rehospitalization that is designed to meet patients' needs where they are, including in their homes.

Mayo Clinic will conduct a yearlong research study to determine if home monitoring of patients with chronic diseases, using Intel's remote patient monitoring technology, will reduce hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits.

This study reflects the commitment of GE Healthcare, Intel and Mayo Clinic to develop new patient-centered delivery care models. With the numbers of seniors expected to rise dramatically and increasing numbers of patients experiencing chronic disease, the current focus on face-to-face clinic interaction with the provider is not a sustainable delivery model. Technology could enable new care models to help rein in costs and improve patient outcomes through personalized care and ongoing disease management at home and in the community.

The research study will involve 200 high-risk Mayo Clinic patients over age 60 who receive care in Rochester, Minn. The goal is to evaluate the effectiveness of daily in-home monitoring technology in reducing hospitalizations and ED visits compared with usual medical care. Patients will measure their vital signs such as blood pressure, pulse and weight, and respond to questions specific to their diseases on a daily basis, with all data reviewed by the clinical care team working with their primary care provider. The technology, which also includes videoconferencing capability, allows the care team to assess the patient for signs and symptoms suggesting clinical deterioration to facilitate early medical intervention. The hope is that early recognition and treatment of a change in clinical status will reduce the need for ED visits and hospitalizations.

"To meet evolving patient needs and broaden its reach in the 21st century," says Gregory Hanson, M.D., Mayo Clinic Department of Primary Care Internal Medicine, one of the principal investigators in the study, "Mayo Clinic will build on its model of care to provide products and services to people in new ways. Mayo Clinic is evaluating several approaches to remote monitoring of patients. We're excited to move forward with this research study in collaboration with GE Healthcare and Intel."

This research study further illustrates GE Healthcare and Intel's commitment, announced in April 2009, to jointly market and develop innovative technologies for independent living and chronic disease management and to extend care from the hospital to the home. The two companies plan to invest $250 million over the next five years for the research and product development of home-based health technologies. In addition, GE Healthcare is selling and marketing the Intel Health Guide in the United States and the United Kingdom.

"Transforming health care requires more than just health care reform. It requires innovative thinking and the use of technology to change how and where care is delivered," says Louis Burns, vice president and general manager of the Intel Digital Health Group. "We need to go beyond just hospital-and-clinic visits when we are sick - to home and community-based care models that allow for prevention, early detection, behavior change and social support. This study is an example of how we are looking to address this."

Omar Ishrak, president and CEO Healthcare Systems at GE Healthcare says, "Nearly 80 million 'baby boomers' in the U.S. are approaching 'seniors' status, and they expect the best possible care. By joining together with two world-class partners in this research study - Mayo Clinic and Intel - GE expects to gain valuable insight on how we can better deliver technologies that improve the lives of seniors and people with chronic illness. This is an important step in a journey to improve access to quality care while helping lower health costs."

About GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with health care leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable health care systems. Our "healthymagination" vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality and efficiency around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a $17 billion unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 46,000 people committed to serving health care professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our Web site at www.gehealthcare.com/diseasemanagement.

About Mayo Clinic

For more than 100 years, millions of people from all walks of life have found answers at Mayo Clinic. These patients tell us they leave Mayo Clinic with peace of mind knowing they received care from the world's leading experts. Mayo Clinic is the first and largest integrated, not-for-profit group practice in the world. At Mayo Clinic, a team of specialists is assembled to take the time to listen, understand and care for patients' health issues and concerns. These teams draw from more than 3,700 physicians and scientists and 50,100 allied staff that work at Mayo Clinic's campuses in Minnesota, Florida, and Arizona; and community-based providers in more than 70 locations in southern Minnesota, western Wisconsin and northeast Iowa. These locations treat more than half a million people each year. To best serve patients, Mayo Clinic works with many insurance companies, does not require a physician referral in most cases and is an in-network provider for millions of people. To obtain the latest news releases from Mayo Clinic, go to www.mayoclinic.org/news. For information about research and education visit www.mayo.edu. MayoClinic.com (www.mayoclinic.com) is available as a resource for your general health information.

About Intel

The Intel Health Guide is an FDA-cleared remote patient monitoring system designed to help address the challenges of chronic conditions for patients and the health care professionals responsible for their care. Available since 2008, the technology allows health care providers to customize care, gather timely information about the status of their patients, and collect and prioritize patient data. The system engages patients in their own care by providing them with an easy-to-use, intuitive way to have timely interaction with their care providers and receive relevant self-care education - helping to minimize time-consuming and costly office visits.

Intel [NASDAQ: INTC], the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom and blogs.intel.com. For more information on the Intel Health Guide, visit www.intel.com/healthcare/telehealth. To learn more about Intel in health care, go to www.intel.com/healthcare.

Intel is a trademark of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries

MIT commissions Peratech to develop

next generation tactile robotic skin

RICHMOND, North Yorks., England -22 February 2010. Peratech Limited, the leader in new materials designed for touch technology solutions, has announced that they have been commissioned by the MIT Media Lab to develop a new type of electronic 'skin' that enables robotic devices to detect not only that they have been touched but also where and how hard the touch was.

The key to the sensing technology is Peratech's patented 'QTC' materials. QTC's, or Quantum Tunnelling Composites, are a unique new material type which provides a measured response to force and/or touch by changing its electrical resistance - much as a dimmer light switch controls a light bulb. This enables a simple electronic circuit within the robot to determine touch. Being easily formed into unique shapes - including being 'draped' over an object much like a garment might, QTC's provide a metaphor for how human skin works to detect touch.

Uniquely, QTC's provide a 'proportional' response - in other words detecting 'how hard' they have been touched. Further, using Peratech's patented xy scanning technology, the robot is able to detect where on a matrix of sensors applied to areas such as the forearms, shoulders and torso, it has been touched.

As robotic devices continue to make inroads to our daily life, their ability to understand the presence and interaction with humans and other objects within a space becomes critically important. This research project is hoped to produce results which could soon be applied to a range of robotics projects that MIT works upon.

Peratech's QTC technology has an established track record for use in robotics, having previously been adopted by NASA for their Robonaut device and by Shadow Robot in the UK, producers of what is widely regarded as the World's most advanced robotic hand, which have utilised QTC to sense 'touch'. However, this project with MIT is a World first in enabling a human to interact - through touch across the body of a robot - much as they would with another human.

About QTC

QTC's are electro-active polymeric materials made from metallic or non-metallic filler particles combined in an elastomeric binder. These enable the action of 'touch' to be translated into an electrical reaction, enabling a vast array of devices to incorporate very thin and highly robust 'sensing' of touch and pressure. QTC's unique properties enable it to be made into force sensitive switches of any shape or size. QTC switches and switch matrices can be screen printed allowing for development and integration of switches that are as thin as 75 microns.

QTC is also low power and interfaces can be designed with no start resistance so that without pressure, the switch draws no power and passes no current. Importantly, when pressure is applied, the resistance drops in proportion to the amount of pressure which allows sophisticated human machine interface designs that react to variations in pressure. QTC technology has no moving parts and requires no air gap between contacts. This makes it extremely reliable and suitable for integration into the thinnest electronic designs and with industry leading operational life.

About MIT

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. www.web.mit.edu

About Peratech

Peratech is the inventor and world leader in Quantum Tunnelling Composite (QTC) technology. Already widely used in robotics and defence, Peratech commercialised its QTC technology at the beginning of 2006 and is currently working with a number of key technology clients who are implementing QTC sensing technology within their own products.

QTC materials give enormous flexibility in the design, shape, thickness and style of a switch or pressure sensor and can be made in a range of elastomeric forms, including emulsive coatings (down to thicknesses of 10 microns), 'bulk' silicone or rubber and textile forms. Peratech pioneered the creation of electronic switches made from textiles as early as 2001. QTC has been recognised through numerous International awards and accolades including 'Tomorrow?s World Industry Award 2002', 'Saatchi & Saatchi Innovation Award 2000' and 'European Electronics Industry Award 2004'.

QTC materials have been used by organisations such as NASA, ILC Dover, Shadow Robotics and numerous government agencies World Wide. Peratech also owns SOFTswitch the pioneering creator of textile switching and Eleksen, the world leader in touch sensitive interactive textiles for electronics interface design. Further information is available from www.peratech.com

Faster Laser/Piezo Autofocus System

offers Throughput with Flexibility

Partnership between specialists in automation can yield important benefits to research and OEM users. With each player bringing specific expertise, teamwork often surpasses what a single organization can achieve. A case in point: the engineers at Motion X and PI have developed a novel, laser-based system that combines Motion X’s high-bandwidth autofocus sensor with PI’s high-speed piezo driven PIFOC® objective and Z positioners to provide a big step forward in autofocus responsiveness, stability and accuracy. The modular and configurable architecture avoids image degradation and is suitable for commercial and custom microscopes and for substrates ranging from wafers with sensitive coatings to live biological samples.

Background

Achieving and maintaining a sharp focus can be a critical task for systems engineers and researchers. Autofocus is important to users of standard microscopes and designers of custom optical columns alike, and some applications require real-time autofocus during processes in which the substrate is moved. Several approaches have been popular but can present significant drawbacks. Probe-based mechanisms compensate for drift by measuring the position of the sample plate versus the optical column but are slow, cumbersome to set up and limited in effective resolution due to the problematic probe/sample mechanical interface. They also only maintain a mechanical setpoint and cannot correct for variations in sample thickness, drift between the probe and sample, parfocality errors between objectives, drift in the optics or the column itself, and so on. By comparison, optical autofocus techniques have the advantage of evaluating the image via the optics. All mechanical, thermal and optical issues which can impact focus, including changes and steps in the sample itself, are compensated.

[Left] FocusTrac™: an innovative laser autofocus module of provides speed and compatibility.

[Middle] PIFOC®: High-bandwidth, high-precision piezo actuation provides autofocus responsiveness.

[Right]: Typical step/settle response, measured interferometrically, for 250µm wafer edge scanned at 12mm/sec with 10X objective

The teamwork between PI and Motion X married Motion X’s unique FocusTrac™ system to PI’s proven controls and piezo mechanics for plug-and-play autofocus capability. PI’s PIFOC® piezo objective and Z positioners are typically 10X faster than stepper or servo focusers and can realize the full bandwidth capability of the Motion X laser autofocus technique. Different laser wavelengths are easily accommodated, and mechanical options include objective positioners, turret positioners, sample-positioning and (well-plate) Z-stages and cost-effective OEM Z-positioning elements. FocusTrac™ works with microscopes from industry leaders including Olympus, Leica, Nikon, Zeiss and Mitutoyo and is readily integrated into OEM assemblies as well.

More information: www.pi-usa.us/pdf/Faster_Autofocus_with_Laser_and_Piezo.pdf

Contacts

Motion X

139 Aero Camino, Santa Barbara, CA USA 93117

www.motionxcorp.com

PI (Physik Instrumente) L.P.

East Coast: 16 Albert St., Auburn, MA USA 01501

West Coast: 5420 Trabuco Rd., Ste. 100, Irvine, CA USA 92620

www.pifoc.com

www.pi-usa.us

FutureCarbon is exhibiting at the nano tech 2010 from

February 17 through February 19 in Tokyo, Japan

2010-02-10, Bayreuth: FutureCarbon will attend nano tech 2010, the international fair for nanotechnology, which will take place from February 17 through February 19 in Tokyo, Japan. FutureCarbon is presenting its innovative products CarboGran, an easily soluble CNT granulate, and its electrically heated coating Carbo e-Therm.

The focus lies on the product innovation CarboGran, a breakthrough for the industrial use of carbon nanomaterials. CarboGran is a dust free, dry granulate consisting of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), that can easily and safely be dispersed in a whole number of different solvents and polymers. CarboGran minimises the effort involved to date for further processing carbon nanomaterials by eliminating entirely the elaborate and technically demanding dispersion process on the part of the user.

Another product highlight presented by the innovative Bayreuth based company is Carbo e-Therm, a high-efficiency electrically heated coating for the use with non-hazardous low voltage. The coating can easily be applied to surfaces of any shape and electrically contacted. Surfaces with Carbo e-Therm heat up homogeneously without the forming of hot spots. Flexible use and high heating power allow for a variety of different applications, such as panel heating for the automotive industry or as floor or wall heating.

Other exhibits at the fair include CarboDis, a very successful range of CNT dispersions, and the electrically conductive epoxy resins of the CarboBond series.

FutureCarbon is presenting its new products in hall 6, booth F17.

FutureCarbon specializes in the development and manufacture of carbon nanomaterials and their refinement into so called carbon supercomposites as primary products for industrial further processing. Carbon supercomposites are composite materials that evolve the special properties of carbon nanomaterials in the macroscopic world of real applications. All of our materials are manufactured on an industrial scale.

FutureCarbon achieves breakthrough in development

of simply soluble CNT granulates

Bayreuth, Germany - February 12, 2010: FutureCarbon has successfully completed development of a non-dusting carbon nanotube granulate that disperses by simple stirring. In its reaction and handling the granulate is comparable to soluble coffee. This development marks a breakthrough in the industrial use of carbon nanomaterials. FutureCarbon is marketing the product as CarboGran.

CarboGran is a simply soluble granulate consisting of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). By just stirring them into the solvent, the CNTs distribute evenly to form stable dispersions with no tendency to reagglomerate. CarboGran can be used together with a whole number of different solvents such as water, alcohols, ethylene glycol.

CarboGran is manufactured by a special process developed by FutureCarbon. Here the CNTs are separated, stabilized and carefully granulated to create a simply soluble and easily dosed powder of dry and free-flowing aggregates containing solely CNTs.

CarboGran virtually eliminates the effort involved to date for further processing carbon nanomaterials into composite materials, because it does away entirely with elaborate and technically demanding dispersion processes on the part of the user. The dustfree and dry state ensures high stability of the warehoused product, straightforward handling and simple dosing.

Depending on how it is dosed, CarboGran makes it possible to produce specific electrical and/or mechanical properties in coatings, adhesives, sealants, varnishes, building materials and the like. Very small amounts of CarboGran are sufficient to achieve the desired effect in the matrix system, e.g. to manufacture antistatic flooring.

A video can be downloaded from the FutureCarbon website at

http://www.future-carbon.de/video/CarboGran.mpg

British nanotech pioneer, Peratech, receives £1.1 million

investment by YFM Group to fund expansion

Ultra thin, quantum effect touch sensors are smart replacements for old fashioned switches in mobile phones, robotics and many other devices

RICHMOND, North Yorks., England - 15 February 2010 - Further to its recent announcements of licensing agreements with Nissha and Samson Electro-mechanics for 3D input technology for mobile phones, Peratech Limited has announced that YFM Group managed Partnership Investment Finance has invested £1.1 million into the Company. This will be used for further research and development into Peratech's award-winning, patented Quantum Tunnelling Composite (QTC) technology for touch technology solutions, as well as growing the company's highly successful sales into overseas markets.

"We are really excited by the huge potential of Peratech and its technology," says Mark Winderbank at YFM Group, which is the most active VC investor in UK SMEs. "Peratech?s recently announced license deals with major international companies Nissha and Samsung Electro-mechanics demonstrate how QTC can open up exciting new ways of doing things. We are proud to be able to support a fast growing British company with a truly unique technology that has a tremendous world market. Of all the possible investments that we have looked at recently, Peratech stood out because of the strength of its innovative technology and huge growth potential."

The key to QTC's success is that it enables traditional, old fashioned switches to be replaced with ultra reliable QTC versions that offer additional features such as no contacts to wear out and no air gap to be contaminated with water or dust. Moreover, because QTC is force sensitive, it opens up a whole new range of applications where the current flowing is directly proportional to the pressure applied. This enables a new category of touch sensitive, human machine interfaces to be created with a completely new three dimensional aspect. For example, the width of a line being drawn electronically can depend on the pressure applied, which is an ideal feature for Asian and Chinese characters, or pressing harder moves faster down into a menu structure on a mobile phone. Further details at http://www.peratech.com/pr.php

"In these financially challenging times, it is a real testament to both the QTC technology and the team behind it to have received funding of this level,? adds Philip Taysom, joint CEO of Peratech. ?The Company has invested significant R&D efforts to understand this new class of material science that it has invented. We are now at the stage where its ability to add value and completely new innovative features, which provide significant commercial advantages, are clearly demonstrable as can be seen from the licensing deals that we are closing with Tier 1 international companies."

About YFM Group

YFM Group funds under management continue to back fast growing SMEs across the UK, in the last 12 months 88 companies received funding from YFM Group, the deals were worth more than £89 million. YFM Group is the most active investor in UK SMEs based on research carried out by Private Equity Insight. Further information is available at www.yfmgroup.co.uk

About Peratech

Peratech is the inventor and world leader in Quantum Tunnelling Composite (QTC) technology. QTC's are electro-active polymeric materials which enable the action of 'touch' to be translated into an electrical reaction, enabling a vast array of devices to incorporate very thin and highly robust 'sensing' of touch and pressure. Already widely used in robotics and defence, Peratech commercialised its QTC technology at the beginning of 2006 and is currently working with a number of key technology clients who are implementing QTC sensing technology within their own products.

QTC materials give enormous flexibility in the design, shape, thickness and style of a switch or pressure sensor and can be made in a range of elastomeric forms, including emulsive coatings (down to thicknesses of 10 microns), 'bulk' silicone or rubber and textile forms. Peratech pioneered the creation of electronic switches made from textiles as early as 2001. QTC has been recognised through numerous international awards and accolades including 'Tomorrow?s World Industry Award 2002', 'Saatchi & Saatchi Innovation Award 2000' and 'European Electronics Industry Award 2004'.

Miniature 6-Axis Robot at MD&M Show

PI Hexapods come with load ranges from 2 kg to >1000 kg

Anaheim, CA - nanopositioning specialist PI exhibits its latest 6-axis robotics positioning system at the MD&M West show, the world's largest medical design & manufacturing event. The miniature hexapod system provides more than 10 lbs of force and motion in all six degrees of freedom. It can be used for manufacturing and placing of parts requiring very high precision, for microscopy applications or laser and optical alignment.

After two decades of experience with the design and production of hexapod robots, PI’s electro-mechanical / piezoelectric six-axis positioners are among the most advanced multiaxis precision motion control systems in the world.

Other 6-Axis Positioners with video

http://www.hexapods.net

Features and Advantages of the M-810 Miniature Hexapod

Operation in Any Orientation

High-Stiffness 6-Axis Hexapod with 5 kg Load Capacity

Very Compact: 10 cm Diameter, 11.8 cm Height

0.2 Micron Minimum Incremental Motion (40 nm Resolution)

Long Travel Ranges to 40 mm (linear) and 60° (rotation)

Powerful Controller with Freely Definable Virtual Pivot Point

High Velocity of 10 mm/s

Linear and Rotary Multi-Axis Scans

Parallel Kinematics Advantages

Parallel-kinematic motion systems have a number of advantages over standard serial kinematic (stacked) positioning systems:

Virtual Pivot Point: Rotation Around any Point, not unlike the Human Hand

Only one Moving Platform, No Accumulation of Guiding and Lever-Arm Errors

No Moving Cables for Improved Reliability and Precision

Smaller Package Size

Increased Stiffness, Reduced Inertia, Better Dynamics

Smaller Motors and Encoders, Controller & Software Included

The limited space necessitated the usage of new technologies for encoders, motors and other integrated electronic components. The M-810 is compatible with PI’s tried and proven hexapod controllers that are supported by windows software and a library of drivers and programming examples for applications such as optical alignment etc. PI also provides simulation tools for hexapod integration.

Applications

Precision manufacturing, high precision placement of parts; alignment of optical components & lasers, microscopy applications, neuroscience.

About PI

PI is a leading manufacturer of hexapod robotic positioning systems, piezo stages, piezo linear motors and precision motion-control equipment. PI has been developing and manufacturing standard & custom precision products with piezoceramic and electromagnetic drives for 35+ years. The company has been ISO 9001 certified since 1994 and provides innovative, high-quality solutions for OEM and research. PI is present worldwide with eight subsidiaries and total

Datasheets & More Information:

http://www.physikinstrumente.com/en/products/prdetail.php?sortnr=700880

Peratech's QTC sensor technology licensed to Samsung Electro-mechanics

QTC technology to be used to create pressure sensitive 5-way input device to provide new ways to interact with mobile phones

RICHMOND, North Yorks., England - 8 February 2010 -- Peratech Limited, the leader in new materials designed for touch technology solutions, has signed a major licensing agreement for its Quantum Tunnelling Composite (QTC) technology, which will be included within a new range of pressure sensing components from Samsung Electro-mechanics (EM).

The license is for the use of Peratech?s innovative QTC switches in 5-way input devices, or Navikeys, made by Samsung Electro-mechanics that are used for menu navigation and interaction on mobile phones. Until now, these devices are usually made using dome switches that allow current to flow when depressed giving a simple on/off operation. By replacing the dome switches with switches made from force sensitive QTC, the resulting input device is now pressure sensitive so that as more pressure is applied to the switch, more current flows. This adds a whole new dimension to the input device and this proportional input opens up a raft of new ways to interact with the phone. For example, the speed of scrolling through a list or the speed of movement in a game can vary depending on how hard the switch is pressed, making interaction faster and more intuitive.

Philip Taysom, joint CEO of Peratech, said, "This is a very significant step for Peratech and we are delighted Samsung EM has chosen our QTC technology. It is a huge testament to the power and potential of QTC technology to not only replace traditional switches with more reliable switches but to also add new functionality so that better, more innovative products can be created with enhanced user interaction. Samsung EM supplies components to most of the leading phone manufacturers so our technology will soon be used across a wide range of next generation phone models. In fact, a Navikey using QTC from Samsung EM is already being used into a Tier 1 mobile phone."

Dr. Ho-Chul Joung, Principal Manager at Samsung EM, added, "The pressure sensitivity of the QTC switches changes the game when it comes to human machine interface design enabling truly 3D user interfaces to be created in small, low power devices. This three-dimensionality cannot be matched with existing resistive and capacitive technologies and means that the next generation of mobile phones will have many new and exciting features because of it."

About QTC

About Samsung Electro-mechanics

Samsung Electro-mechanics continued to develop and manufacture core electronic components since its foundation in 1973, Samsung EM pioneered the technological framework for Korean production of A/V components in the 1970s, and diversified into materials and computer components in the 1980s.

In the early 1990s, the focus was on manufacturing promising products, such as chip components, MLBs (multi layer boards), mobile communication components, and optical components. In the late 1990s, Samsung EM expanded its operation into production of digital components with high frequency, software, engineering, and design technologies and has positioned as leading electronic component maker.

In 2004, Samsung electro-mechanics announced a vision of 'the 1nside Edge that shapes the future', and has grown into top-tier electronic components manufacturer, opening up the future to a digital world and will occupy a position as the World Top 3 company by 2015 with its technological prowess and by focusing its management capabilities on developing the world?s very best products. Further information is available from www.sem.samsung.co.kr/index.jsp

About Peratech

QTC materials give enormous flexibility in the design, shape, thickness and style of a switch or pressure sensor and can be made in a range of elastomeric forms, including emulsive coatings (down to thicknesses of 10 microns), 'bulk' silicone or rubber and textile forms. Peratech pioneered the creation of electronic switches made from textiles as early as 2001. QTC has been recognised through numerous International awards and accolades including 'Tomorrow's World Industry Award 2002', 'Saatchi & Saatchi Innovation Award 2000? and 'European Electronics Industry Award 2004'.

QTC materials have been used by organisations such as NASA, ILC Dover, Shadow Robotics and numerous government agencies World Wide. Peratech also owns SOFTswitch, the pioneering creator of textile switching and Eleksen, the world leader in touch sensitive interactive textiles for electronics interface design. Further information is available from www.peratech.com

Trends in Nanotechnology Funding, Research and

Business Converge in New Webinar Series

--NanoTecNexus Series Demystify Business Rules in the New World --

SAN DIEGO - NanoTecNexus (NTN), already acclaimed for its educational forums and nanotechnology expertise, announces a new series of business and scientific online webinars intended for members of industry, investment, research, and academic communities. Nanotechnology involves the science and technology of devices and materials developed at the molecular scale and poised to revolutionize applications across many industries. Webinar topics planned for release in 2010 include the latest strategies in funding, regulatory issues, safety, research and development, and updates in the commercialization of nanotechnology-based applications.

The business and scientific series of webinars follow the highly successful CME (Continuing Medical Education) Accredited Nanomedicine series produced in partnership with UC San Diego's NanoTumor Center and sponsored by the UC San Diego School of Medicine. Kicking off the new round of business-focused webinars is a lecture on funding strategies entitled "Financing Innovation in Our New World: Utilizing Non-Dilutive Funding for Capital Efficiency" scheduled for Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 11am Pacific. All topics are designed to help attendees navigate through the new rules of doing business in today's volatile economy and discover new opportunities with emerging nanotechnologies.

"Business is fueled by innovation and, despite the economic outlook, access to high caliber expert content remains vital if companies are to emerge and stay competitive," noted Adriana Vela, Founder and CEO of NanoTecNexus. "Our online sessions allow us to leverage experts worldwide and deliver content to a broad and geographically dispersed audience".

A variety of industry tracks showcasing promising companies that are developing nanotech-enabled products are also being planned. Visit www.nanotecnexus.org for schedules and release dates of live and on-demand webinars.

About NanoTecNexus

NanoTecNexus (NTN), formerly known as NanoBioNexus, is a leading non-profit organization headquartered in San Diego with offices in Tucson AZ, San Jose, CA and Vancouver, WA. NTN is dedicated to catalyzing collaboration and knowledge exchange in the nanotech field by connecting people, technology, industry and investment. NanoTecNexus enables constituents worldwide to keep up-to-date on the developments of cutting-edge nanotechnologies. Nanotechnology involves manipulating matter on an atomic or molecular scale smaller than 100 nanometers (1 nm=1 billionths of a meter) and taking advantage of properties that are present at that scale. Nanotechnology is used in thousands of applications in medicine and health, energy and water, defense and many others. On the Net: www.nanotecnexus.org

High-End, High-Force Linear Piezo Motor

Auburn, MA, PI (Physik Instrumente) L.P. introduces the new N-216 NEXLINE®® high-load piezo linear motors. These ultra-precision nanopositioning actuators provide travel ranges to 20 mm and push / pull forces to 600 N (130 lb). The operating principle is based on coordinated motion of a number of highly preloaded linear and shear piezo elements acting on a ceramic runner.

Features & Advantages

All-Ceramic Drive, Extreme Lifetime, No Lubricants

Direct Linear Motion, does not involve Rotation / Conversion

Non-Magnetic and Vacuum & Clean room Compatible Working Principle

Push / Pull Forces to 600 N /130 lbs

High Holding Forces, to 800 N / 177 lbs (Power Off, No Heat Generation!)

Travel Range 20 mm

Resolution to 0.03 nm (30 Picometers)

Self-Locking at Rest, No Heat Generation

Datasheets: http://www.physikinstrumente.com/en/news/fullnews.php?newsid=165

Extreme Reliability, Virtually Unlimited Lifetime

NEXLINE® PiezoWalk® drives have many high-end applications from ultra-precision manufacturing and semiconductor test equipment to astronomy and high energy physics applications. They excel when tough requirements for lifetime, stability , precision and force are paramount. The extreme reliability makes them ideal for applications in difficult-to-access internals of instruments, where nanometer-realm adjustment and / or vibration cancellation are required. To promote long lifetime, the PiezoWalk® controller can reduce the operating voltage on the piezo elements to zero at any position without affecting the full holding force (up to 800 N, 177 lbs).

PiezoWalk® Working Principle Allows Different Operation Modes

The piezoceramic clamping and shear elements act directly on a moving runner coupled to the load. For maximum velocity, and long distance movements, the runner can be driven in full step mode. Extremely uniform motion and constant velocity is achieved with the nanostepping mode. In addition to combining long travel ranges with piezo-class precision, NEXLINE® PiezoWalk® drives also offer a high-dynamics analog operation mode (100's of Hz) over smaller distances (to 6 µm).

Open & Closed Loop Operation

N-216 linear motors come in two versions for open- or closed-loop operation, as well as in two different load configurations. Closed-loop versions are equipped with a linear encoder for direct position measurement of the moving runner. The encoder features 5 nm resolution over the full travel range. In open-loop operation a positioning resolution to 30 picometers can be realized by use of the (high-dynamics) analog operation mode.

Choice of Controllers

NEXLINE® operation is supported by two motion controller models providing different features. The (lower-cost) E-755 controller offers full functionality for nanometer precise positioning. The E-712 supplies more sophisticated linearization algorithms resulting in very smooth motion with highly constant velocity and offers greater flexibility by nature of its modular design.

About PI

PI is a leading manufacturer of piezo systems, stages, linear motors & precision motion-control equipment for microscopy, bio-nanotechnology, photonics & semiconductor applications. The company has 4 decades of motion control experience with OEM and research customers. PI was ISO 9001 certified in 1994 and is present worldwide with eight subsidiaries and a total staff of over 500.

Global - England

Nissha signs $1.4 million licensing agreement for Peratech's ultra-thin, low power QTC technology switches to create next generation of touch screens with 3D input for mobile devices

RICHMOND, North Yorks., England - 26 January 2010 -- Peratech Limited, the leader in new materials designed for touch technology solutions, has announced that Nissha, one of the world's largest manufacturers of touch screen technology, has signed a $1.4 million licensing agreement to use Peratech?s award winning Quantum Tunnelling Composites (QTC) to create next generation touch screens with 3D input for mobile phones and portable electronic devices. The licensing agreement gives Nissha exclusive worldwide rights to use the technology for screens smaller than 3.5 by 5.5 inches for an initial period of 1 year.

Philip Taysom, joint CEO of Peratech, said, "This is Peratech's first million dollar licensing agreement and is a huge testament to the power and potential of QTC technology by one of the world?s leading manufacturers of touch screens for mobile phones and gaming consoles. QTC is also ideal for creating solutions for larger touch screens and we are actively investigating this market."

QTC's unique properties enable it to be made into force sensitive switches of any shape or size. QTC switches and switch matrices can be screen printed allowing for development and integration of switches that are as thin as 75 microns. QTC is also low power and interfaces can be designed with no start resistance so that without pressure, the switch draws no power and passes no current. Importantly, when pressure is applied, the resistance drops in proportion to the amount of pressure which allows sophisticated human machine interface designs that react to variations in pressure.

Chris Lussey, joint CEO of Peratech, commented, "QTC changes the game when it comes to human machine interface design with capabilities to build truly 3D user interfaces in small, low power devices. This three dimensionality cannot be matched with existing resistive and capacitive technologies. Using products with an embedded QTCconsumers could use this third dimension to search deeper into a file structure simply by pressing harder, control an avatar?s movement through a game more naturally or create the thin or thick lines which are vital for Far East characters."

QTC technology has no moving parts and requires no air gap between contacts. This makes it extremely reliable and suitable for integration into the thinnest electronic designs and with industry leading operational life. With QTC, touch screens can be made feature rich and ultra-thin allowing for the development of even slimmer, lighter weight and lower-power portable devices.

Takao Hashimoto, Director, CTO of Nissha and General Manager of Technology Research & Development, added, "QTC will be a disruptive technology for mobile phones enabling thinner phones to be designed with amazing new input interfaces." switch

About Nissha

Nissha Printing is a future-oriented corporation that supplies advanced colour concepts, designs, and functions from its base in Kyoto to customers throughout the world using its own unique technology based on a foundation of traditional printing techniques.

Founded in 1929 and headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, Nissha Printing Company Limited was inaugurated in Kyoto on October the 6th, 1929 under the motto ?Anybody can do type printing. Let?s do high class printing which no other company does. "From the inauguration of our company, we have consistently undertaken high class printing and have come to be known within the printing industry by the term ?Nissha, the high class printing company." However, from an early stage, we became involved in the development of printing techniques other than paper printing, and, in 1967, we became the first company in Japan to market wood grain pattern transfer foils. As a result, it became possible to transfer designs printed onto films onto the surfaces of moulded plastic objects, and, in 1983, we launched our own unique technology, the in-mould decoration system Nissha IMD, which is capable of transferring designs not only onto flat surfaces but also onto all manner of curved surfaces. In addition, in 1990, we developed analogue touch panels and commenced supplies of these products for the manufacture of PDAs. Today, the use of Nissha IMD technology has greatly expanded, and it is now employed around the world in the manufacture of products in every conceivable category including mobile telephones, notebook PCs, vehicle interior components, and information appliances, etc, with the result that this surface decoration technology has endowed a wide variety of everyday products with high degrees of decorativeness. In addition, in the field of touch panels, we boast one of the world?s highest levels of production capacity as well as advanced quality, and have cemented our position as a leading company in this industry through activities including the development of decorative touch windows consisting of an amalgamation of surface decoration technology with existing touch panels. Further information is available from http://www.nissha.co.jp/english/

About Peratech

QTC materials give enormous flexibility in the design, shape, thickness and style of a switch or pressure sensor and can be made in a range of elastomeric forms, including emulsive coatings (down to thicknesses of 10 microns), 'bulk' silicone or rubber and textile forms. Peratech pioneered the creation of electronic switches made from textiles as early as 2001. QTC has been recognised through numerous International awards and accolades including "Tomorrow's World Industry Award 2002", "Saatchi & Saatchi Innovation Award 2000" and "European Electronics Industry Award 2004".

Global-Arab Emerites

Solar energy initiative launched

P.K. Abdul Ghafour | Arab News —

JEDDAH: The King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology (KACST) on Sunday launched a major national initiative to produce desalinated water and electricity at a much cheaper rate — less than a riyal for a cubic meter of water and 30 halalas per kilowatt/hour.

Prince Turki bin Saud bin Muhammad, vice president of KACST for research institutes, said the initiative would reduce the cost of water and electricity production by 40 percent. He said the first solar-powered desalination plant with a capacity of 30,000 cubic meters would be established in Al-Khafji to serve 100,000 people.

The project will reduce dependence on oil and gas to operate desalination plants. At present desalination plants on the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf consume a total of 1.5 million barrels per day. The new nanotechnology for using solar energy to operate desalination plants was developed by KACST in association with IBM.

”Desalination is our strategic choice to supply adequate amount of drinking water to people across the Kingdom,“ said Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf, while addressing the launching ceremony. Saudi Arabia supplies more than 18 percent of the world’s total desalinated water, he said.

”We want to make the Kingdom a major source of solar energy in the world,“ Al-Assaf said. His comment goes in line with a recent statement made by Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Al-Naimi, who said the Kingdom aims to make solar energy a major contributor to power supply in the next 5-10 years.

”Saudi Arabia aspires to export as much solar energy in the future as it exports oil now,“ Al-Naimi said.

The oil minister also pointed out that King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Thuwal, near Jeddah, would use its research facilities to develop solar energy to meet a significant portion of the Kingdom’s growing power needs. Electricity demand in the Kingdom is growing at the rate of seven percent annually.

The new initiative was carried out by the ministries of finance, water and electricity, and commerce and industry, and the Saline Water Conversion Corporation. There are lots of scope for Saudi Arabia to use solar energy because of the availability of strong sunlight throughout the year, estimated at 2,000 kilowatt for each square meter.

In the second phase of the project, a desalination plant with a capacity of 300,000 cubic meters of water daily will be established, said Muhammad Al-Suwaiyel, president of KACST. ”We’ll set up more solar-energy-powered desalination plants in different parts of the Kingdom in the third phase,“ he added.

Source:Arab News

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=131784&d=25&m=1&y=2010&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom

Piezo-Z Slide Scanner for Biotechnology,

3D Imaging / Super Resolution Microscopy

San Francisco, CA, PI (Physik Instrumente) L.P. will introduce the new P-736 high-speed microscope slide Z-scanner piezo stage at this year’s BIOS / Photonics West show.

Datasheets, Image, More Information:

http://www.physikinstrumente.com/en/news/fullnews.php?newsid=164

Image at: http://www.pi-usa.us/PRL/PInano-Z.jpg

Fast, Cost Effective Piezo Z-Stage for all Major Microscopes

The new PI nano™ piezo-Z stages are optimized for very fast step and settle and easy integration into high-resolution microscope applications. They feature a very low profile a large aperture, and travel ranges of up to 200 µm with sub-nanometer closed-loop resolution–ideal for leading-edge microscopy and imaging applications. The piezo stages are designed for inverted microscopes from the four major manufacturers: Leica, Nikon, Olympus and Zeiss. The low profile design of 20 mm (0.8“) facilitates the integration. The large aperture accommodates microscopy accessories such as slide holders, Petri dish holders, etc.

Features & Advantages

Extremely Fast Step & Settle, From 5 msec

Cost Effective due to Piezoresistive Sensors

Optional 25x25 mm long travel stage serves as a stable basis

Low Profile for Easy Integration: 20 mm (0.8")

100 and 200 µm Travel Ranges

Longest Lifetime with Ceramic Encapsulated PICMA® Piezo Technology

Compatible w/ Leading Image Acquisition Software Packages

Closed-Loop Control for High Repeatability and Accuracy

Digital Piezo Controller & Software Included

Higher Performance at Lower Cost: Packaged with Digital Controller

A compact digital piezo controller improves linearity and allows fast adaptation to changing load / settling / speed requirements and simple tuning from the controlling computer. It comes with three interfaces (USB, Analog and RS-232) for seamless compatibility with different control signals. The controller is also compatible with all major image acquisition packages and comes with a wide variety of software drivers and programming examples. The use of piezoresistive sensors allows for reduced cost despite the high performance.

About PI

PI Launches Lowest Profile, High Speed Piezomotor Rotary Stage

@ Photonics West

San Francisco, CA, PI (Physik Instrumente) L.P. introduces a new ultra-low profile (0.6“), direct-driven, high-speed rotary stage based on its proprietary PILine® piezomotor drive technology at this year’s SPIE Photonics West conference.

Fast, Self-Locking, Direct Drive, Direct Encoder

The M-660 stage reaches top speeds of 720 degrees/sec. and resolution to 40 µrad (8 arcsec). Its self-locking ceramic drive holds the position steady at rest, with no energy consumption and heat generation. A directly coupled precision optical encoder provides phase lag-free, backlash-free feedback to the servo controller.

Image, Datasheets & More Information:

http://www.physikinstrumente.com/en/news/fullnews.php?newsid=163

Ceramic Drive Used in the Latest Generation Optical Instruments

The compact design with minimized mass and inertia, provides high precision bidirectional speed and position control, as well as high speed motion contouring. The M-660 outperforms the stability, acceleration and settling speed of traditional servo motor direct drives and gear-driven mechanisms.

The innovative motor drive was also chosen by Leica Geosystems AG in their newest generation of surveying instruments for geodesy, because it can provide significantly higher speeds, shorter positioning times and a very high positioning accuracy when moving the measuring optics. A video demonstration is available at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loAhRLFFPNk

Features & Advantages

Max. Velocity 720 °/s, Unlimited Travel Range

Low Profile: Only 15 mm (0.6“)

Self-Locking Ceramic Direct Drive: Energy Saving & High Position Stability

Direct Metrology Linear Encoder, 40 µrad Resolution (8 arcsecs)

PILine® Drive: Non-Magnetic, Vacuum-Compatible Working Principle

Compact Combinations with Linear Stages Available

Controller / Software Support

A newly designed piezo motor controller is available to take advantage of the specific motion characteristics of ultrasonic ceramic motors. A fast USB interface and a solid software and driver package allow for easy and seamless integration into user applications.

Keywords & Application Examples

High-Speed Positioning, High Speed Motion Contouring, Optical Instrumentation, Piezo Ceramic Motor, Ultrasonic Drive, High-Stability Servo Motor, Non Magnetic

About PI

Switzerland Scores 8 Expansions, 30 New Investment Projects from North America in 2009; Significant Projects from Elsewhere

5 Swiss acquisitions by North American firms also recorded

New York, January 19 - Despite a generally unfavorable global foreign direct investment (FDI) climate Switzerland in 2009 scored a total of 37 expanded or new investments from North America and a significant number from elsewhere reports Mario Brossi, North American Senior Advisor for Switzerland Trade and Investment Promotion. In addition 5 North American firms completed acquisitions of Swiss companies.

"These numbers are on a level of our 2008 performance," Brossi says. "We believe FDI declines may have bottomed out, suggesting a more positive long-term trend for FDI activity in general."

Expansions are the greatest testimonial to a country's attractiveness as an FDI destination, Brossi believes. "Over the years the 'Swiss experience' has resulted in expansions by many existing investors," he says. "This year the roster is comprised of Baxter International, Bombardier, Edwards Life Sciences, McDonald"s Europe, Medtronic, Microsoft, RBC Capital Markets and Tyco Electronics. These most assuredly are well-recognized names on the international business scene," he comments.

Under the new investments category for 2009 Switzerland was the destination for North American companies establishing 6 international headquarters, 5 European headquarters, 1 EMEA headquarters, and 18 regional offices.

"Investments from elsewhere also fall under these classifications," Brossi explains.

"For 2009 the list of companies is headed by The Economist moving its international headquarters from London to Geneva and BASF relocating its European business unit for plastic additives and the global units for technology management, along with the restructured pigment business to the former headquarters of Ciba Holding in Basel." Other origins of FDI into Switzerland during 2009 include Bulgaria, China, Finland, Japan, Taiwan, Spain, Sweden, and Venezuela.

Acquisitions by North American firms during the year:

Alcon's purchase of ESBATech AG
Beacon Enterprise Solutions Group's purchase of SymbioTech Solution AG
Eaton Corporation's purchase of the remaining 50% stake in Micro Innovation Holding AG
SunGuard's acquisition of Genix Systems AG
3M's acquisition of Ligacon AG

"Switzerland's position as a favored FDI destination is due to many factors that are important to existing and potential investors," Mr. Brossi comments. "Among these are its 1st place ranking in the 2009-2010 Global Competitiveness Report and 3rd in Europe in the 2008-2009 Global Information Technology report, both published by the World Economic Forum. In the 2009 World Competitiveness Yearbook published by the Institute for Management Development, Switzerland retains its 1st place ranking in Europe among the world's 57 most competitive countries. It also scored 1st in Europe in the Cato Institute Economic Freedom of the World 2009 Annual Report ranking 141 countries on a range of factors in five broad areas."

Nanostart increases investment in cleantech company Namos GmbH

Shareholding rises from 15 to 26 percent
Cleantech breakthrough based on nanotechnology
Saves 50 percent of precious metals in production of automotive catalytic converters

Frankfurt / Dresden – January 5, 2010 – Nanostart AG, the leading nanotechnology investment company, is raising its shareholding in Namos GmbH, the pioneering cleantech developer based in the eastern German city of Dresden, from 15 to 26 percent. The ERP Start Fund, which is a joint program of the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), the German government-owned development bank, and the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, is likewise increasing its shareholding.

Marco Beckmann, CEO of Nanostart AG, commented on the investment increase: ”The technology from Namos is nothing short of revolutionary. It substantially reduces the consumption of precious metals, thus saving enormous costs in the production of catalytic converters. With more than one quarter of this company now belonging to Nanostart, we are in an extremely favorable position.“

The new technology developed by Namos should enable the savings of about one half of all precious metals currently required for the production of automotive catalytic converters. The proprietary process from Namos is based on a bionanotechnological coating which is applied to the ceramic substrate used in catalytic converters. Approx. 230 metric tons of ”new,“ non-recycled precious metals are currently consumed each year to produce automotive catalytic converters, corresponding to an annual value of USD 8.3 billion. Roughly half of this amount, more than USD 4 billion, could be saved through the new technology from Namos.

The additive used in the process can be produced at minimal cost using bionanotechnology. Because it does not remain in the finished catalytic converters, it cannot have any negative long-term effects. It contains no harmful chemicals and has a shelf life of several years.

About Namos:

Namos GmbH develops highly innovative coatings based on aqueous solutions, with a focus on nanostructured surfaces which offer uniquely advantageous characteristics. Rather than producing these with a large number of complex process steps, these are produced using biomolecules which use their inherent ”intelligence“ to organize themselves in certain ways into the desired structures. The company has long maintained intensive contacts with leading-edge research centers, particularly within the area of Dresden. The customers and cooperation partners of Namos include renowned major corporations as well as smaller and specialized companies. For further information, please visit wwwnamos.de.

About Nanostart:

Nanostart AG is the world’s leading nanotechnology investment company. The Frankfurt-based company provides venture capital financing for nanotechnology companies in various growth phases. It also provides the benefits of its experience and expertise to developers of financial instruments and to investors in the nanotechnology sector. For further information about the company, please visit www.nanostart.de.

Lux Research

Join us for a Webinar on January 26

Space is limited.

Reserve your Webinar seat now at:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/525458035

Lured by the promise of high profits, free-flowing funding, access to global corporations, and a 2015 market forecast of $498 billion, nanotechnology specialists have flocked to the nanointermediate segment of the nanotech value chain, creating a congested, complex, and competitive landscape. To help executives make sense of the nanointermediate maze, we used the Lux Innovation Grid to assess companies in three popular nanointermediates field – catalysts, coatings, and composites – providing a navigation tool designed to help make better decisions about mergers and acquisitions, licensing, development agreements, investments, and regulations. For this report, we drew on information gathered from over 1,000 primary interviews conducted with executives over the last two years. Armed with this information, we scored companies on three dimensions – technical value, business execution, and maturity – and then placed them in one of four quadrants based on their scores: dominant, undistinguished, long-shot, and high potential. Join Lux Research as we present our findings with this webinar, addressing these questions and more:

• Which nano-intermediate suppliers land in the dominant category on the Lux Innovation Grid (LIG), making for safe bets?

• What does the future hold for the catalysts, coatings, and composites landscapes?

• Did venture capitalists (VCs) invest mostly in nanointermediate suppliers in 2009 like recent years?

• What is the current EHS landscape and outlook for specialists?

Title: Lux Research Nanomaterials State of the Market: Nanomaterials on the Lux Innovation Grid

Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST

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Global - Germany/Singapore

Nanostart invests in Singapore medical technology company BioMers

Nanotechnology-based solutions for biomedical applications
Revolutionary product for USD 2.4-billion orthodontic device market
Regulatory approval already obtained for U.S., EU and Japan

Frankfurt / Singapore – December 18, 2009 – Nanostart AG has taken a significant ownership position in BioMers Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based medical technology company with a branch office in the U.S. The company is developing innovative new solutions for various biomedical applications with its technology.

BioMers has developed the world's only completely translucent braces system for orthodontic treatment. The product is set to fundamentally transform the multi-billion-dollar global market for orthodontic devices. The company also has an exciting pipeline of future products for other medical and dental applications.

BioMers is a spin-off from the renowned National University of Singapore (NUS), where the technology was invented. The technology makes use of advanced nanomaterials and fibre-reinforced polymer composite techniques to create translucent arch wires that are just as competent as metal wires.

An initial and extraordinarily promising application for this innovative product is the rapidly growing market for orthodontic braces. BioMers is the world’s only provider of orthodontic solutions that can produce aesthetic-looking arch wires.

Aesthetic brackets have been available for more than 10 years. However, until now, only metal has had the mechanical properties needed for the arch wires which run along the middle of the brackets. Using nanotechnology, BioMers is able for the first time to produce translucent and thus cosmetically acceptable braces and retainers (worn by patients following treatment with braces), a competitive advantage which offers BioMers the potential to be the number-one choice in the orthodontics market.

The global market for orthodontic braces (arch wires and brackets) and retainers is currently estimated at some USD 2.4 billion annually. Over the past nine years, the U.S. market for orthodontics has grown at an annual rate of approx. 7.5 percent per year, while various regions in Asia have seen orthodontics grow at double-digit rates.

The company has already received regulatory approval for its orthodontic products in the United States, the European Union and Japan. The capital invested by Nanostart will be primarily used to strengthen sales and marketing resources and to further expand the already existing network of some 40 international distribution partners.

Andreas Kröll, managing director of Nanostart Asia, remarked that ”BioMers has developed, with the help of its leading-edge nanotechnology, a superb product with uniquely innovative characteristics. With the growth in demand for more aesthetically pleasing solutions, the company stands to revolutionize the global market for orthodontic devices, a market which has seen relatively little innovation in recent decades. This promises to deliver high returns.“

Dr. Mervyn Fathianathan, Managing Director of BioMers, added: ”We are extremely pleased about bringing on board an investor like Nanostart with its uniquely successful track record in nanotechnology investments. Its international network and business experience will be of enormous help in the further development and growth of our company.“

Nanostart has taken the position of Lead Investor in this new addition to its investment portfolio by way of its Nanostart Singapore Early Stage Venture Fund I. The fund now owns about 16 percent of Biomers.

About Nanostart:

Disclaimer:

This notice constitutes neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of offers to purchase or subscribe to securities. There will be no public offering of securities of Nanostart AG in conjunction with the existing listing of its shares in the ”Entry Standard“ segment of the regulated unofficial market (Freiverkehr) on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. This notice does not constitute a securities prospectus. Neither this notice nor the information contained within is intended for direct or indirect distribution within the United States of America, Canada, Australia or Japan.

Nanotech treatment gets boost with GSK licensing agreement

December 17th, 2009 - GlaxoSmithKline and Ann Arbor-based NanoBio Corporation announced today that they have signed an exclusive over-the-counter licensing agreement for NanoBio’s unique nanoemulsion treatment for cold sores in the United States and Canada.

James R. Baker, Jr., M.D., director of the Michigan Nanotechnology Institute for Medicine and Biological Sciences at the University of Michigan Medical School, developed nanoemulsions in the 1990s at U-M and founded NanoBio Corporation to further develop and commercialize the technology.

The nanoemulsion technology is patented by U-M and licensed to NanoBio Corporation. Dr. Baker serves as CEO of NanoBio Corporation, where he holds a financial interest. At U-M, he also is the Ruth Dow Doan Professor of Internal Medicine and allergy division chief.

”For the university, this agreement between NanoBio and GlaxoSmithKline demonstrates the value of our technology and fulfills our goal of getting the benefits of our research deployed broadly to the general public,“ says Ken Nisbet, executive director of the U-M Office of Technology Transfer.

”We’re very proud of the accomplishments of Dr. Baker and the entire NanoBio team.“

Under the new agreement, New Jersey-based GlaxoSmithKline will pay NanoBio an up-front fee of $14.5 million for licensing rights for the nanoemulsion product called NB-001. NanoBio is eligible to receive additional milestone payments of up to $40 million plus high single-digit royalties on future sales.

Nanoemulsions are superfine mixtures of soybean oil and water, stabilized by surfactants and blended at very high speeds so that the resulting droplets are less than 400 nanometers in diameter. Nanoemulsion droplets fuse with a microbe’s outer membrane, disrupt the membrane and kill the organism.

Baker believes that the GlaxoSmithKline-NanoBio partnership will ”enable the development and commercialization of NB-001 to its fullest potential and validates the promise of our proprietary platform technology, and its potential use in a wide range of dermatological and anti-infective applications.“

NB-001 is the first nanoemulsion therapeutic to complete successful phase 2 clinical trials and will enter phase 3 testing within the next six months. NanoBio is developing other nanoemulsion-based therapies for a range of diseases including fungal infections, acne and molluscum contagiosum.

Cold sores, caused by the virus herpes labialis, affect about one-fifth of adults in the United States. NB001 will add to GSK’s Abreva line of over-the-counter medications for cold sores.

Global - Russia

Vistec stepped into a joined electron-beam lithography project with the Technical Institute of the Moscow University

December 14th, 2009 - Moscow, Russia / Jena, Germany - Vistec Electron Beam GmbH is pleased to announce that it has stepped into a joined electron-beam lithography project with the renowned Moscow Institute of Electronic

Technology (MIET). MIET, one of the most advanced Universities and research institutions in Russia and Vistec Electron Beam, a leading German supplier of electron-beam lithography systems will collaborate within a dedicated

photomask manufacturing project recently kicked-off in Russia.

"After ramping up, the MIET Photomask Centre will provide both semiconductor industry as well as research institutes in Russia with advanced photomasks for a wide range of applications", said Vladimir Bespalov, Senior Vice

Rector of MIET Technical University. "Besides mask manufacturing, education and research will play a central role in the new Photomask Centre. MIET selected a Variable Shaped Beam system from Vistec because of the lithography performance, high flexibility, field proven reliability and ease of operation functionality of the system."

The 50kV Variable Shaped Beam system from Vistec is equipped with a fully automated substrate handling and is prepared to expose different substrate types and sizes.

"We are extremely proud to team-up with MIET in this photomask manufacturingm project", stated Wolfgang Dorl, General Manager of Vistec Electron Beam GmbH. "The recently shipped Variable Shaped Beam system represents a

continuation of an outstanding business history the company has with Russia and opens up new and exciting opportunities in the growing Russian market."

MIET

The Moscow Institute of Electronic Technology (MIET, Technical University) was established in Zelenograd, the center of Russian microelectronics, in 1965. Today MIET is an advanced Russian university which is training highly-qualified professionals in the most popular fields of electronics and IT. The university covers 9 faculties, 32 fundamental and 17 basic professorial chairs (institutions in hi-tech companies) providing excellent training and allowing their students and graduates to continue their academic education. All in all a staff of 650 scientific-educational personnel, among the MIET tutors and employees are 3 members of the Russian Academy of Science , 3 universal graduates, 95 professors, doctors and 290 PhDs, are teaching 6500 students, more than 300 of them are aspirants and doctorial candidates. MIET proved its status of a leading university in Russia by being listed in 2006 as one of the first 17 winners of the national priority project "Education". Now MIET is among the universities promoting best innovative educational programs for further development of the training system.

Vistec Electron Beam Lithography Group

The Vistec Electron Beam Lithography Group is a global manufacturer and supplier of electron-beam lithography systems with applications ranging from nano and bio-technology to photonics and industrial environments like mask making or direct writing for fast prototype development and design evaluation. The Vistec Electron Beam Lithography Group combines Vistec Electron Beam and Vistec Lithography.

Vistec Lithography

Vistec Lithography develops, manufactures, and sells electron-beam lithography equipment based on Gaussian Beam technology. Their electron-beam systems are world-wide accepted in advanced research laboratories and universities. The company is located in Watervliet, NY (USA), within the Capital Region of New York.

Vistec Electron Beam

Vistec Electron Beam is providing electron-beam lithography equipment based on Shaped Beam technology, which is used by leading semiconductor manufacturers and many research institutes around the world. Their innovative electron-beam systems are used for microchip production and integrated optics as well as for scientific and commercial research. The company is located in Jena (Germany).

Global-Germany

Nanostart majority-owned MagForce Nanotechnologies AG

names Dr. Peter Heinrich as new CEO

Senior executive of international standing
Proven leadership as company enters a crucial phase
Dr. Heinrich: ”declared objective to generate significant value“

Berlin / Frankfurt – December 10, 2009 – MagForce Nanotechnologies AG (Entry Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, ticker MF6), the Berlin-based medical technology company majority owned by Nanostart AG, has announced the appointment of Dr. Peter Heinrich as its new chief executive officer effective January 1, 2010. Dr. Heinrich, who is a renowned executive within the life sciences business in Germany and a leading figure in the European biotechnology world, has served until now as deputy chairman of the supervisory board of MagForce. Until the middle of this year, he was CEO of MediGene AG, a biotechnology company listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and included in the TecDax index.

Dr. Heinrich will succeed outgoing chief executive Dr. Uwe Maschek, who has resigned at his own request as of the end of the year. Professor Wolfgang M. Heckl is rejoining the supervisory board, taking the place of Dr. Heinrich. Professor Heckl, who is regarded as Germany’s leading nanotechnology expert, teaches at the Technical University of Munich (TU München) and is general director of Germany’s largest science museum, Munich’s renowned Deutsches Museum. He also serves as deputy chairman of the supervisory board of Nanostart AG.

”With the appointment of Peter Heinrich, we’ve been able to bring on board a highly experienced and internationally recognized business executive,“ said Marco Beckmann, CEO of Nanostart AG. ”We are confident that Dr. Heinrich will do a superb job in leading our portfolio company MagForce through this critical phase. We extend our sincere thanks to Dr. Maschek, the CEO until now, for his many contributions and look forward with great enthusiasm to working together with Dr. Heinrich. His experience and expertise make him the ideal candidate to drive forward with the marketing and further development of Nano-Cancer® therapy, for the benefit of cancer patients as well as the company and its shareholders.“

Dr. Heinrich added that ”with its Nano-Cancer® therapy, MagForce possesses an extremely innovative and effective therapeutic procedure for treating solid tumors. Following the successful results of clinical trials in patients with glioblastoma, a malignant and particularly aggressive type of brain tumor, an application for EU-wide regulatory approval has been submitted for this first medical indication. The next step is to drive forward vigorously with preparations for the commercialization phase and to rapidly expand the scope of application of our Nano-Cancer® therapy to encompass other medical indications, as well as to position our company in the international market. It is my declared objective to generate significant value for patients as well as for shareholders in the coming years.“

Over his entire career as a pharmaceutical executive, Dr. Heinrich has been able to produce a superb track record of successful achievements. He was co-founder of MediGene AG, the exchange-listed biotechnology company, and served as its managing director and CEO from 1995 until the middle of 2009, over this time the company focused on the development of pharmaceuticals in the fields of oncology, immunology and cardiology. There he held board-level responsibility for all areas until the company’s stock exchange listing in 2000, after which time he was responsible for the areas of administration, business development, controlling, corporate finance, investor and public relations, organizational development, intellectual property and human resources, as well as for the company’s facilities in San Diego (California) and Oxford (UK).

With strategic far-sightedness, scientific rigor and business know-how, he built up MediGene from a venture capital-financed start-up to an established international biopharmaceutical company with pharmaceutical products successfully brought to market and further candidates now in the development pipeline.

During his career at MediGene, Dr. Heinrich played a key role in achieving a number of noteworthy milestones in the company’s development, including the regulatory approval of the drugs Eligard®, Veregen® and Oracea®, the acquisition of companies, the licensing in and licensing out of product candidates, strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical corporations, and the company’s listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 2000 as well as follow-on capital market transactions.

Before founding MediGene, Heinrich held various positions over eight years at Wacker Chemie AG in Munich. During this time he was substantially involved in the development of biotechnology products which have since been successfully brought to market.

Dr. Heinrich studied biology and chemistry at the University of Munich, and after receiving his doctoral degree there in biochemistry, he continued with post-doctoral work at Harvard University. He is co-founder and chairman of the executive board of BIO-Deutschland, an independent organization representing the interests of the German biotechnology industry. From 2001 to 2009 he served as a member of European Biopharmaceutical Enterprises (EBE), including as its president from 2003 to 2006. Dr. Heinrich also serves on the board of trustees of Bayern Innovativ GmbH, as a mentor and tutor at the Bavarian Elite Academy, and on the supervisory board of the University of Augsburg’s MBA program.

About Nanostart:

About MagForce Nanotechnologies:

MagForce Nanotechnologies AG is the world’s leading company in the area of nanotechnology-based cancer treatment. Its patented therapy allows the targeted destruction of tumors using magnetic nanoparticles. MagForce’s nanotechnology represents a revolutionary approach to the future successful treatment of solid tumors. For more information, please visit www.magforce.com.

Disclaimer:

Nanostart further increases ownership of ItN Nanovation

Following the company’s successful turnaround, ItN Nanovation has repositioned itself and is rapidly moving forward with a highly focused business model built around two key growth drivers: its patented technology, and its new marketing strategy. The strategy under the company’s new senior management centers around international joint ventures to execute specific projects under which ItN Nanovation provides its know-how in the production of nanoceramics, while the project partner – generally a major corporation – provides financial backing as well as production and marketing resources. Several such major projects are already in process, such as projects for seawater desalination in the Arabian Peninsula and for the separation of oil-water mixtures in the production of oil from tar sands in North America.

Marco Beckmann, CEO of Nanostart, commented on the increase in ownership: ”The availability of clean water is a global challenge which is becoming critically important and for which the unique technology from ItN Nanovation holds out reliable and effective solutions. Some very attractive business opportunities have already come about as a result of this business restructuring, and we regard our increase in shareholding as a superb investment.“

The increase in shareholding is resulting from the issuance of new shares against a contribution of capital in kind which was resolved by the executive board of ItN Nanovation and approved by its supervisory board on December 4. Under this transaction, secured loans in the amount of EUR 1.5 million, for the most part from Nanostart AG and a prominent business family, will be contributed to the company, in exchange for which 462,961 new shares will be issued from approved capital, these having been valued based on the prevailing market price. As a result of this exchange transaction, ItN Nanovation AG will have a significantly stronger balance sheet structure in that these liabilities will be converted into shareholder equity. At the same time, by releasing the collateral securing the loans, the debt exchange transaction has facilitated the seamless transfer, as announced on December 2, of the company’s production facility in Halberstadt, Germany, which was sold to CWT Clean Tech AG. Through the contribution of capital in kind, the company’s registered capital will increase to almost EUR 8.2 million. The transaction is expected to raise the equity ratio on the company’s balance sheet to approx. 50 percent, while also eliminating annual interest expense of more than EUR 100,000. Assuming that the capital increase is entered into the commercial register before year end, ItN Nanovation AG will have no remaining liabilities toward banks or other lenders.

About Nanostart:

About ItN Nanovation:

ItN Nanovation AG, founded in 2000, is one of the leading nanotechnology companies in the world, developing innovative ceramic products, such as filtration systems and coatings, for large industrial customers. The nanoscale powder needed for those products is manufactured by the company itself. The filtration products from ItN Nanovation can be used for drinking water purification, waste water treatment, as beverage filters and for the separation of oil and water. Ceramic coatings based on nanotechnology are used in a variety of ways as protective and catalytic coatings in various industries: from baking ovens to aluminum foundries to coal-fired power plants. The company's success is founded on an extensive product portfolio, combined with comprehensive development and application know-how. For further information about the company, please visit www.itn-nanovation.de.

Disclaimer:

Global - India

Tata Group Launches Water Purifier for the Masses

The Tata Group, one of India's largest conglomerates, has launched what it is calling a water purifier priced for the masses. The Tata Swach does not require running water, electricity or boiling, and is priced such that the mass of rural Indian consumers can afford it. The company says it will help save the lives of millions of people who die each year due to waterborne diseases. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 894 million people don't have sufficient access to clean water, and 2.2 million people, mostly children, die every year from diseases associated with unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation. The filters in the Tata Swach use paddy husk ash as a matrix, bound with nanoscale particles of silver to kill bacteria, and have a lifespan of 3000 liters - about enough to provide a family of five with drinking water for a year. R. Gopalakrishnan, executive director of Tata Sons, said safe water "...is a right public policy has sought to fulfill, not very successfully so far. We'd like to make a small contribution to offering that." The Tata Group plans to eventually export the filter to Africa.

Source:Business Week

Author:Erika Kinetz

The complete article can be viewed online at the link below.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9CEBH680.htm

Futuristic Intel Chip Could Reshape How Computers are Built,

Consumers Interact with Their PCs and Personal Devices

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec. 2, 2009 – Researchers from Intel Labs demonstrated an experimental, 48-core Intel processor, or "single-chip cloud computer," that rethinks many of the approaches used in today's designs for laptops, PCs and servers. This futuristic chip boasts about 10 to 20 times the processing engines inside today's most popular Intel® Core™-branded processors.

The long-term research goal is to add incredible scaling features to future computers that spur entirely new software applications and human-machine interfaces. The company plans to engage industry and academia next year by sharing 100 or more of these experimental chips for hands-on research in developing new software applications and programming models.

While Intel will integrate key features in a new line of Core-branded chips early next year and introduce six- and eight-core processors later in 2010, this prototype contains 48 fully programmable Intel processing cores, the most ever on a single silicon chip. It also includes a high-speed on-chip network for sharing information along with newly invented power management techniques that allow all 48 cores to operate extremely energy efficiently at as little as 25 watts, or at 125 watts when running at maximum performance (about as much as today's Intel processors and just two standard household light bulbs).

Intel plans to gain a better understanding of how to schedule and coordinate the many cores of this experimental chip for its future mainstream chips. For example, future laptops with processing capability of this magnitude could have "vision" in the same way a human can see objects and motion as it happens and with high accuracy.

Imagine, for example, someday interacting with a computer for a virtual dance lesson or on-line shopping that uses a future laptop's 3-D camera and display to show you a "mirror" of yourself wearing the clothes you are interested in. Twirl and turn and watch how the fabric drapes and how the color complements your skin tone.

This kind of interaction could eliminate the need of keyboards, remote controls or joysticks for gaming. Some researchers believe computers may even be able to read brain waves, so simply thinking about a command, such as dictating words, would happen without speaking.

Intel Labs has nicknamed this test chip a "single-chip cloud computer" because it resembles the organization of datacenters used to create a "cloud" of computing resources over the Internet, a notion of delivering such services as online banking, social networking and online stores to millions of users.

Cloud datacenters are comprised of tens to thousands of computers connected by a physically cabled network, distributing large tasks and massive datasets in parallel. Intel's new experimental research chip uses a similar approach, yet all the computers and networks are integrated on a single piece of Intel 45nm, high-k metal-gate silicon about the size of a postage stamp, dramatically reducing the amount of physical computers needed to create a cloud datacenter.

"With a chip like this, you could imagine a cloud datacenter of the future which will be an order of magnitude more energy efficient than what exists today, saving significant resources on space and power costs," said Justin Rattner, head of Intel Labs and Intel's Chief Technology Officer. "Over time, I expect these advanced concepts to find their way into mainstream devices, just as advanced automotive technology such as electronic engine control, air bags and anti-lock braking eventually found their way into all cars."

Cores Allow Software to Intelligently Direct Data for Efficiency

The concept chip features a high-speed network between cores to efficiently share information and data. This technique gives significant improvement in communication performance and energy efficiency over today's datacenter model, since data packets only have to move millimeters on chip instead of tens of meters to another computer system.

Application software can use this network to quickly pass information directly between cooperating cores in a matter of a few microseconds, reducing the need to access data in sloweroff-chip system memory. Applications can also dynamically manage exactly which cores are to be used for a given task at a given time, matching the performance and energy needs to the demands of each.

Related tasks can be executed on nearby cores, even passing results directly from one to the next as in an assembly line to maximize overall performance. In addition, this software control is extended with the ability to manage voltage and clock speed. Cores can be turned on and off or change their performance levels, continuously adapting to use the minimum energy needed at a given moment.

Overcoming Software Challenges

Programming processors with multiple cores is a well-known challenge for the industry as computer and software makers move toward many-cores on a single silicon chip. The prototype allows popular and efficient parallel programming approaches used in cloud datacenter software to be applied on the chip. Researchers from Intel, HP and Yahoo's Open Cirrus collaboration have already begun porting cloud applications to this 48 IA core chip using

Hadoop, a Java software framework supporting data-intensive, distributed applications as demonstrated by Rattner today.

Intel plans to build 100 or more experimental chips for use by dozens of industrial and academic research collaborators around the world with the goal of developing new software applications and programming models for future many-core processors.

"Microsoft is partnering with Intel to explore new hardware and software architectures supporting next-generation client plus cloud applications," said Dan Reed, Microsoft's corporate vice president of Extreme Computing. "Our early research with the single chip cloud computer prototype has already identified many opportunities in intelligent resource management, system software design, programming models and tools, and future application scenarios."

This milestone represents the latest achievement from Intel's Tera-scale Computing Research Program, aimed at breaking barriers to scaling future chips to 10s-100s of cores. It was co-created by Intel Labs at its Bangalore (India), Braunschweig (Germany) and Hillsboro, Ore. (U.S.) research centers. Details on the chip's architecture and circuits are scheduled to be published in a paper at the International Solid State Circuits Conference in February.

Global - Germany

Nanostart-owned MagForce Nanotechnologies AG: Application submitted for EU regulatory approval of Nano-Cancer® therapy

European regulatory approval expected by end of May 2010

Sales and marketing launch now in planning

Renowned nanomedicine expert calls it ”a real medical revolution“

Frankfurt / Berlin –December 01, 2009 – MagForce Nanotechnologies AG, the Berlin-based medical nanotechnology company majority-owned by Nanostart AG, has submitted its application for the European regulatory approval of its Nano-Cancer® therapy.

The application is based on the successful results of recent clinical trials involving patients with recurrent glioblastoma, an especially aggressive form of brain tumor. The results of this efficacy study demonstrated that, by using Nano-Cancer® therapy accompanied by radiation therapy, the median survival time of patients following the first recurrence of glioblastoma could be more than doubled, from 6.2 months to 13.4 months, which is seen as a breakthrough in medical terms.

The product file for approval, consisting of some 20 volumes, has now been submitted to Medcert GmbH, the designated authority for the testing and certification of medical products. The management of MagForce anticipates that the testing procedure will take three to six months and thus should be completed by the end of May. Following successful completion, the company will be able to market its proprietary Nano-Cancer® therapy throughout the European Union.

In order to make the current testing and certification process as seamless as possible, MagForce worked closely with Medcert to proactively coordinate the methodology and procedures for its clinical trials.

In parallel with the procedure for European regulatory approval, MagForce is moving forward with preparations for its market launch. These include discussions with medical insurers on cost coverage for the therapy, with potential sales partners such as major medical technology corporations, and with cancer clinics. The company’s own sales and marketing organization is also being built up.

Dr. Andreas Jordan, founder and chief scientific officer of MagForce Nanotechnologies, commented, ”After more than twenty years of research and development efforts, we now stand on the brink of regulatory approval. Ultimately, we aim to use our Nano-Cancer® therapy to treat all kinds of solid tumors.“

Nanostart CEO Marco Beckmann added, ”Nano-Cancer® therapy is quickly moving toward market launch, and its market potential is enormous. We’re particularly pleased about the growing interest within the medical world in this completely new approach to cancer treatment.“

Professor Mauro Ferrari, the internationally recognized expert in the area of nanomedicine, praised the latest successes at MagForce: ”I would like to congratulate and thank Dr. Jordan and his team at MagForce Nanotechnologies for their outstanding contribution to nanomedicine and cancer research. What MagForce could demonstrate with the study results is historical, nothing less than a real medical revolution: The physics-based, nanoparticle-enabled therapy is highly effective and it comes with minimal side effects for the patients – you simply can’t overestimate the importance of MagForce’s pioneering work. It is groundbreaking, for its own importance for extended survival of brain cancer patients, and perhaps even more in terms of broader implications for future thermal ablation therapies of other types of cancer.“

About Nanostart:

About MagForce Nanotechnologies:

Disclaimer:

Nanoceuticals: Tiny Size, Big Potential

This article takes a comprehensive look at the various ways nanotechnology is having an impact on nutrition and food, and touches upon the science behind this emerging field as well as potential dangers. The regulatory side of nanotechnology in food and supplements in the United States is also addressed, with the author concluding that the regulatory environment is in a state of flux. A guidance document is expected from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2010, but until then only nanotech food additives and colors must be tested for safety and toxicity.

The use of nanotechnology and nanomaterials in food and dietary supplements continues to grow, although many companies are elusive about the presence or use of nanomaterials in their products. Helmut Kaiser Consultancy (HKC) has projected the nanofood market to rocket from US$7 billion in 2006 to US$20.4 billion by 2010, noting that there are more than 200 companies around the world active in research and development. Food and beverage packaging is an area expected to grow rapidly in the coming years. Nutrient delivery is another arena where nanotechnology is expected to quickly expand its role. The article details many of the latest developments in nutrient delivery, such as the use of nano-micelles - capsules that help emulsify or dissolve fat in water solutions and aid absorption of fat-soluble nutrients - and nanoencapsulation of nutraceutical ingredients, also to improve absorption and protect sensitive ingredients from oxidation.

The author says, in conclusion, that "[I]t is truly an infant frontier that hopefully does not become another cowboy-filled Wild West the natural products industry does not need." The article can be viewed online at the link below.

Source:Natural Products Insider

Author:Steve Myers

http://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/articles/2009/11/nanoceuticals-tiny-size-big-potential.aspx

Global - India

Multi-purpose nanotechnology innovation parks for India

Mumbai, November 29, 2009 - US based Nanotechnology firm Nanobiosym is planning to set up multi-purpose nanotechnology innovation parks, the first of its kind in India.

Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat have already signed MOUs with the globally recognised firm to establish the Nanobiosym Tech Park in India.

”Nanobiosym is already at work forming strategic alliances and innovative public-private partnerships with governments and NGOs and the private sector to help make its flagship Gene-RADAR technology available and affordable to people in developing countries sooner rather than later,“ Nanobiosym Chairman and CEO Anita Goel said.

”Our motto is, with one stroke of the tiny nanotech product platform (Gene-RADAR), to alter the landscape of several multi-illion dollar global industries such as water testing, food and beverage safety testing, biodefence and biometrics, in addition to personalised medicine and point of care diagnostics,“ Goel, a Harvard and MIT-trained physicist and physician, said.

Gene-Radar is a mobile phone like device in which a small drop of blood, saliva or water is placed. The machine can then display what disease the person has. It detects signatures of DNA and RNA, she said.

By doing some of our large scale nano manufacturing in India, Nanobiosym hopes to make our systems more affordable and available to address unmet healthcare needs of people in the developing world, with a special focus on improving healthcare delivery to people at the bottom of the pyramid,“ she said.

Goel, an internationally recognised nanotech scientist, envisions the Nanobiosym Technology Park in India to be an integrated ecosystem for innovation and social good that will include advanced research and development, manufacturing, healthcare, wellness centers, education, and rural development.

This will also comprise of eight special purpose vehicles (SPVs) with each organised around a specific purpose mission, she said.

”This will become a part of a broader Nanobiosym Global Knowledge Ecosystem, comprised of organisations from various sectors, including Fortune 500 companies, governments, NGOs, academia, non-profits and thought leaders who share Nanobiosym’s mission to bring cutting edge innovations to emerging markets in a sustainable way,“ Goel said.

Gene-RADAR platform could enable testing of large human and animal populations at farms, airports, borders and clinics enabling more effective counter-measures to early stage infections and deadly outbreaks such as SARS, Avian flu or Swine Flu.

In case of deadly epidemics or pandemics, the Gene-RADAR platform can help enable widespread, real-time tracking and containment of an infection’s migration.

Goel said, in the Indian context, Nanobiosym plans to work with leading specialists to bring its cutting edge diagnostic capabilities not only to leading hospitals, healthcare providers, and clinics but also to partners in humanitarian, NGOs and governmental organizations in India involved with health care in rural areas.

”We plan to bring some of the most cutting edge science and technology capabilities from around the world into a local ecosystem which engages the local people and that can maximise the socio-economic and humanitarian benefits to the local people,“ she said.

At the same time, the Nanobiosym Knowledge Ecosystem will enable constant exchange with the global scientific, technological, and business and global development communities to bring sustainable and scalable solutions in a holistic way to some of the world’s most pressing problems.

http://beta.thehindu.com/business/Industry/article56831.ece

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Join us for a Webinar on December 8

Space is limited.

Reserve your Webinar seat now at:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/790476066

The solar industry has been plagued over the past few years by destructive boom and bust cycles, clearly indicating that vendors – from polysilicon to module makers – have made a mad dash to add capacity, even as the market was turning down. This overcapacity has had disastrous effects on industry-wide pricing and company solvency, and has triggered an industry-wide shakeout that is still unraveling. To date, the lack of clear and accurate data on production and capacity at each step of the value chain has exacerbated the capacity build-up, while leading to unreasonably high market size forecasts through double-counting of capacity and inaccurate discounting of proposed future capacity. To help clients accurately manage expectations and identify supply trends, Lux Research has developed the Solar Supply Tracker, the most accurate industry tool to date – based on primary interviews with manufacturers at all steps on the value chain and Lux Research’s critical analysis of technology feasibility for emerging technologies.

Join us to review the data on capacity and production trends from over 1,200 individual production facilities for polysilicon, ingot, wafer, cell and module – and answer questions such as:

• How will emerging CIGS and CdTe developers like Abound Solar and Global Solar ramp?

• Who is adding capacity in North America to prepare for growth in demand in the U.S. market?

• Which Chinese polysilicon manufacturers are likely to survive the downturn?

• Which manufacturers are emerging as leaders for ”tolling“ arrangements?

• What is the fate of ”turn-key“ thin film silicon manufacturers?

• Who is growing the fastest at each value chain step, necessitating new suppliers?

• Who is failing at each step of the value chain, requiring new suppliers for their customers?

Title: Lux Research Solar Supply Tracker: Identifying Manufacturing Trends in Solar through 2013

Date: Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements

PC-based attendees

Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Macintosh®-based attendees

Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer

Another carbon nanotube desalination system launched

A carbon-nanotube technology for water desalination and other liquid-based-separations has been licensed by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in the USA exclusively to Porifera Inc of Hayward, California, a company set up in 2008 to market the technology.

The technology first took off when it was funded by LLNL's Directed Research & Development Program and supported by the Science & Technology Principal Directorate. Bakajin and Noy's research originally focused on using carbon nanotubes as a less expensive solution to desalination.

Carbon nanotubes are special molecules made of carbon atoms in a unique arrangement which allow liquids and gases to rapidly flow through, while the tiny pore size can block larger molecules, offering a cheaper way to remove salt from water. Porifera is developing membranes with vastly superior permeability, durability and selectivity for water purification and other applications in the clean-tech sector such as CO2 sequestration..

"The technology is very exciting," said Olgica Bakajin, who serves as chief technology officer of Porifera. "It's at the right place to take it to the marketplace."

Bakajin formerly worked at LLNL, a national security laboratory, where she was recruited in 2000 as a Lawrence Fellow and then moved on to become chief scientist on the carbon nanotube project along with LLNL chemist Aleksandr Noy, another former LLNL Fellow. The license was awarded through LLNL's Industrial Partnership Office.

In conjunction with other partners, Porifera has secured US$ 3.3 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop a small, portable self-cleaning desalination system that could be used in the field.

"If we can really make this work it is a game-changing technology," Bakajin said. "The goal is to go for any water...it could take out contaminants. It's a real challenge, and the technology has great potential."

http://www.desalination.biz/news/news_story.asp?id=5130&title=Another+carbon+nanotube+desalination+system+launched

XY / XYZ Nanopositioning Stage for Super-Resolution Microscopy

Auburn, MA, PI (Physik Instrumente) L.P. -- the inventor of Piezo-Z focusing systems—has added two new multi-axis stages for super-resolution microscopy applications, providing highly accurate motion with sub-nanometer resolution over travel ranges of 200 µm in XY and XYZ.

PI nano 1x3 ™ piezo microscope stage with controller

shown with slide holder & Petri dish holder

Datasheets & More Information:

http://www.physikinstrumente.com/en/news/fullnews.php?newsid=157&1x3

High resolution Image at: http://www.pi-usa.us/PRL/PInano3.jpg

For all Major Microscopes: Leica, Nikon, Olympus, Zeiss

The new PI nano1x3 ™ series XY and XYZ nanopositioning stages are designed for inverted microscopes from the four major players Leica, Nikon, Olympus and Zeiss. The low profile design of 20 mm (0.8“) facilitates the integration. The large aperture accommodates microscopy accessories such as slide holders, Petri dish holders, etc. An optional 25x25 mm positioning stage serves as a stable basis for the piezo stage.

Features & Advantages

24 Bit Controller with USB, Ethernet, RS-232 Interface and Analog Control

200 µm XY or XYZ Travel, Closed-Loop Control for Sub-Nanometer Precision

Cost Effective due to Low-Cost Piezoresistive Sensors

Very Low Profile for Easy Integration: 20 mm (0.8”)

Many Options: Slide Holders & Petri dish Holders; Manual XY Stage, Motor Stage

Longer Lifetime due to Ceramic Encapsulated Piezo Drives

Software Support for Leading Image Acquisition Packages

Higher Resolution at Lower Cost: Packaged with Special Controller

A newly designed piezo controller is included and comes with three, 24-bit digital interfaces (USB, TCP/IP, and RS-232) and a wide-band analog interface for compatibility with all control signals. With its 24-bit DAC converters, commanded resolution is improved by two orders of magnitude over the still widely used 16-bit converters. Despite the higher performance, cost was reduced. The controller is also compatible with all major image acquisition packages and comes with a wide variety of software drivers and programming examples.

Improved Linearity with Special Servo Circuit

For highly stable, closed-loop operation, piezoresistive sensors are applied directly to the moving structure of the stage and precisely measure the displacement of the platform. The very high sensitivity of these sensors provides optimum position stability and responsiveness as well as sub-nanometer resolution. The proprietary servo circuit significantly improves the motion linearity compared to conventional piezoresistive sensor controllers.

Keywords & Application Examples

Single Molecule Microscopy, 3D Imaging, Autofocusing, Bio-Nanotechnology, SR-Microscopy; Piezo-Stage, Super-Resolution Microscope Stage, Piezo stepper, Deconvolution Microscopy, Autofocusing, Scanning Microscope, Biotechnology.

About PI

PI is a leading manufacturer of nanopositioning systems, piezo stages, linear motors & precision motion-control equipment for microscopy, bio-nanotechnology, photonics & semiconductor applications. The company has 4 decades of motion control experience with OEM and research customers. PI was ISO 9001 certified in 1994 and is present worldwide with eight subsidiaries and a total staff of over 500.

Contact:

USA / Canada:

www.pi-usa.us,

www.store.pi-usa.us

East: David Rego

Tel: (508) 832-3456

Fax: (508) 832-0506

Email: info@pi-usa.us

Midwest Joe McGonagle

(815) 793-3776

Email: info@pi-usa.us

West David Steinberg

Tel: (949) 679-9191

Fax: (949) 679-9292

Email: info@pi-usa.us

Europe: www.pi.ws

Germany: +49 (721) 4846-0

Italy: +39 (02) 665 011 01

France: +33 (1) 5714 0710

UK: +44 (1582) 711 650

Asia: www.pi-japan.jp,

www.pi-china.cn

Japan: +81 (6) 6304 5605

China +86 (21) 687 900 08

Application for Nanomedicine:

New Strategies and Innovations to Understand, Treat, and Monitor Disease.

ACCME accredited Webinar Series produced by

UC San Diego NanoTumor Center

Remain at the forefront of Nanomedicine

without leaving the home or office

Nanotechnology-the science and engineering of manipulating matter at the molecular scale to create devices with novel chemical, physical and biological properties-has the potential to radically change how we diagnose and treat diseases such as cancer. Nanomedicine is the medical application of nanoscience methods, tools and materials for the benefit of the patient. Great progress is moving nano-based therapies into the clinic and many more are in development.

This webinar series is designed to address the particularly growing need for knowledge of how nanotechnology will contribute to the evolution of medicine and in oncology. This six module series is the first of many to cover topics ranging from introduction and foundation lectures to clinically relevant nanotechnology applications that impact drug delivery, diagnostic sensing, therapeutics, imaging, surgery and more. We invite you to subscribe to our webinar notification list to help you stay on the leading edge of nanomedicine as we develop additional nanomedicine modules.

Why Participate?

Develop knowledge about the impact of nanotechnology in medicine

Learn about new technologies and how they are being applied

Gain insight on resources available today

Identify and understand various nanomedicine approaches to disease

Expand your network and create alliances with nanotechnology experts

Licensed providers can earn up to 6.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ for webinar module series (1 per module).

Who will benefit:

Physicians, Pharmacists, Nurses, Therapists, Health Providers, Technologists, Researchers , R&D personnel in all areas of science, Executives, Directors, Business Development professionals who:

want to learn about existing and future applications using nanotechnology in the medical field for cancer treatment

are in the medical field, nanomaterials field, pharmaceutical or biotechnology field

work with companies who supply to nanomedical firms

have an interest in the future of medicine

1st Webinar in Series:

Friday, November 20, 2009 – 11:00 am Pacific

Session 1: Understanding Nanomedicine – From Evolution to Impact

Presented by

Liangfang, Zhang, PhD,

Professor, Department of Nanoengineering,

UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, San Diego, CA

Event Registration – Easy 3 Step Process

_______________________________________________________________

Step 1 – Attendee profile – enter all required fields

Step 2 – Secure online payment – enter billing information

Step 3 – Upon completion of Step 1 & 2, you will receive:

.....................* an electronic receipt for credit card payment

.....................* full registration confirmation and access information

Registration Fees - $95 per session

http://ntc-ccne.org/Seminars/nanomed/registration.html

Course Director: Sarah Blair

Webinar Project Manager: Adriana Vela

. Session Length: all sessions are 1 hour

Webinar Format: includes course syllabus, introduction, and presentation and Q &A session

On behalf of the UC San Diego School of Medicine and UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, it is our privilege to invite you to participate in Application for Nanomedicine: New Strategies and Innovations to Understand, Treat, and Monitor Disease. This unique webinar series brings expertise from many fields at UC San Diego and it is intended to demonstrate how nanotechnology can enhance the diagnosis, monitoring and cutting edge treatments of cancer. At UC San Diego we have built a program that incorporates nanotechnology in cancer care and we would like to educate you on this new discipline. This course will illustrate applications of nanotechnology in cancer treatment that are soon to be available in a clinic near you.

This series is divided into weekly modules which can be viewed separately or one can participate in the full series to get the complete picture on how incorporating nanotechnology is changing cancer treatment.

This year's course is especially pertinent to the practice of medicine and for practitioners who take care of cancer patients in 2010 and is intended for primary care, internal medicine, general practice, surgeons and all other interested healthcare professionals. Members from the research, academic and industry sectors will also benefit from this course. This course is a live and interactive course and we would love to get your feedback, questions and interest in new applications that may be pertinent to your practice of medicine.

Dates for Continuing Series:

Tuesday, December 1, 2009 – 11:00 am Pacific

Session 2: Catalyzing a New Frontier – Centers for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence

Presented by

Piotr Grodzinski, PhD

Director,

NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer

Office of the Director

National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD

Sadik Esener, PhD

Principal Investigator and Center Director,

NanoTumor Center;

Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering,

UC San Diego School of Engineering, San Diego, CA

Wednesday, December 16, 2009 – 2:00 pm Pacific

Session 3: Use of Nanoparticles for Suppression of Metastatic Disease

Presented by

Eric Murphy, PhD

Assistant Project Scientist

Tumor Growth, Invasion & Metastasis Program

UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, San Diego, CA

Wednesday, January 18, 2009 – 2:00 pm Pacific

Session 4: Detection of Cancer Related Nanoparticulate Biomarkers Directly from Blood

Presented by

Mike Heller, PhD

Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Bioengineering, Nanoengineering

UC San Diego School of Engineering, San Diego, CA

Wednesday, January 27, 2010 – 1:00 pm Pacific

Session 5: Molecular Imaging for Diagnosis and Therapy

Presented by

Robert Mattrey, MD

Professor, Radiology

Tumor Growth, Invasion & Metastasis Program

UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, San Diego, CA

Wednesday Feb 3, 2010 – 11:00 am Pacific

Session 6: Development and Application of DNA Nanoparticles

Presented by

Bradley Messmer, PhD

Assistant Project Scientist,

Translational Oncology Program,

UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, San Diego, CA

Webinar Inquiries? Email webinars@nanotecnexus.org

Intel Makes Multi-Million Euro Investment to Create European Exascale Computing Research Center

PARIS, Nov. 18, 2009 – Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique, Grand Equipement National de Calcul Intensif, Intel Corporation and Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines have entered into an agreement to create an Exascale Computing Research Center. Part of Intel's European research network - Intel Labs Europe – the center will explore how to build high-performance computing systems with a thousand times the performance of today's fastest supercomputers. The term "exascale" refers to computers that are able to process 1 trillion – or 1 million million million – instructions per second.

Intel will support the Exascale Computing Research Center with a multi-million Euro investment over a 3-year period. The French Atomic Energy Commission (Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique), the Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University (Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines) and the French National High-Performance Computing Agency (Grand Equipement National de Calcul Intensif) will combine to match Intel's contribution. This is Intel's first joint lab in Europe focused exclusively on high-performance computing. It will complement and extend Intel's existing high-performance computing research programs, investments and initiatives, including the Intel Academic Community Program and European Space Agency's "Mapping the Globe from Space" project.

"France has taken a leading role in driving high-performance computing research in Europe," said Steve Pawlowski, Intel senior fellow and general manager of Intel Architecture Group's central architecture and planning. "We chose to work with these three organizations because of their world-class software competency in exascale and high- performance computing."

The research agenda of the Exascale Computing Research Center will include integrating multi petaFLOPS systems, developing advanced performance optimization techniques, and collaborating with end users to optimize supercomputer performance in areas such as energy, seismology, computational fluid dynamics and health care.

The advent of exascale is expected to enable supercomputers to solve much more complex problems than today. For example in health care this capability should enable highly sophisticated genome calculations, enabling individualized patient treatment, or simulation of cell interactions to provide new cancer treatments. Another application can be found in seismology where exascale computing could enable more detailed prediction of ground movement at sites with high security requirements or where frequent movement is expected. In climate modeling, more accurate long-term forecasts and much more detailed local weather forecasts could be made.

The Exascale Computing Research Center will combine French research expertise and high-performance computing vision with Intel's leading products, technologies and experience in this area. The lab will employ about a dozen people initially and is expected to eventually grow to about three times that number.

Intel has a rich history of innovation and creativity in Europe with research and development programs encompassing areas such as chip design, software development, mobile communications and services, atomic-level chip research, development of key Intel products, and research on technologies that could help the aging population to lead healthier, better lives.

Intel's research and development efforts include Intel-owned labs focused on development of Intel products, joint research with European universities, open innovation and collaboration with industry and academia, participation in EU framework programs and cooperative standards development work with industry partners that deliver increased value and productivity to consumers.

About Intel Labs Europe

Intel R&D/Innovation in Europe is driven by a network of research labs, product labs and innovation labs spanning the region as well as a variety of Intel business units. Intel Labs Europe was formally established in early 2009 as the central means of coordinating activities across this diverse and extensive network, and to strengthen and improve Intel's alignment with European R&D. Today, Intel Labs Europe consists of 19 labs employing more than 900 research professionals.

Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

Konarka and Arch Aluminum & Glass Announce

Unique Solar Curtain Wall Pilot Project

- Konarka and Arch Aluminum & Glass Advance Development of Transparent, Colored Solar Glass

Lowell, Mass. – Nov. 10, 2009 – Konarka Technologies, Inc., an innovator in development and commercialization of Konarka Power Plastic®, a material that converts light to energy, today announced the company, along with Arch Aluminum & Glass Co., Inc, has launched the first curtain wall pilot project that will integrate Konarka Power Plastic into a wall structure at Arch’s office building in Tamarac, Florida. The solar panels, generating 1.5 kilowatts of power to the facility, are expected to be fully operational by year’s end. The technology leading installation will advance the development of a colored solar glass panel for integration into a wide range of buildings.

”The purpose of this project is to test the performance and robustness of our solar panel solution for a curtain wall application with a variety of glass and window configurations under a wide range of environmental and insolation conditions,“ commented Dr. Terri Jordan, vice president of business development at Konarka. ”The yielded data and information will guide our development of the first-of-its-kind vision application, a transparent, colored solar glass panel, and we are pleased to launch this first-class pilot installation with Arch.“

The testing facility includes east and south facing walls with both sunny and shadowed areas. The installation is a living laboratory with full modularity including the ability to simultaneously test a wide range of panels under various conditions. The curtain wall is an array of solar panels, glass and aluminum, with a peak output of 40 watts per panel. Yielded data will be shared with architects, building developers and owners as well as alpha and beta field testing customers selected in 2010-2011.

”Integrating ‘active solar glass’ into a wall structure allows us to make use of a typical manufacturing building by giving it the ability to generate its own energy,“ commented Arch’s vice president of marketing, Max Perilstein. ”This pilot facility and Konarka’s flexible, light-weight solar material are allowing us to move forward in the feasibility and development of a solar solution that will add tremendous energy-producing value to a wall structure.“

In May, the two companies announced product development plans to collaborate on building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), photovoltaic materials used to replace conventional building materials.

Konarka Power Plastic will be featured in the Exhibition at Greenbuild® International Conference and Expo, November 10-12, 2009, Arch booth #5434 in Phoenix, Arizona. For more information, visit: http://www.greenbuildexpo.org

About Arch Aluminum & Glass Co. Inc.

Arch Aluminum is your TRUE SINGLE SOURCE® for Architectural Aluminum, Extrusions, Insulated, Tempered, Mirrors, Laminated, and Decorative Glass. Arch is an American-owned, family business founded in 1978. Arch now operates 28 facilities in 17 states with over 1900 employees. For more information on Arch Aluminum & Glass, visit http://www.archaluminum.net or call 1-866-629-ARCH.

About Konarka Technologies, Inc.

All trademarks recognized.

NANOTECHNOLOGY EDUCATION INITIATIVES TO COVER MEDICINE, CANCER AND COMMERCIALIZATION ISSUES

--- NanoTecNexus and NanoTumor Center Launch First-of-its-Kind Webinar Series ---

SAN DIEGO – November 9, 2009 – NanoTecNexus (NTN), formerly NanoBioNexus, already acclaimed for its educational forums and nanobiotechnology expertise, announces the launch of new courses, seminars, and lectures to be delivered online with proven and easy to use webinar tools. The webinar series initiative is part of NTN’s strategy to reach broad geographically dispersed communities, leverage scientific and business experts worldwide, and deliver the highest caliber content in a cost-effective manner.

Kicking off the initiative is a first of its kind Continuing Medical Education (CME) accredited webinar series entitled ”Nanomedicine: New Strategies and Innovations to Understand, Treat, and Monitor Disease“ sponsored by the UC San Diego School of Medicine and produced in partnership with the UC San Diego NanoTumor Center (NTC). The first of six sessions is scheduled for Friday November 20, at 11 am Pacific.

The NanoTumor Center, a public-private consortium funded by the National Cancer Institute Alliance for Nanotechnology and led by UC San Diego, is dedicated to the translational application of nanotechnology in the fight against cancer. NanoTecNexus, a member of this consortium and lead for the NTC educational projects, led the planning committee in the design and organization of the webinar series to meet the accreditation standards and requirements.

”Education in the new field of cancer nanotechnology for the scientific and clinical communities as well as the general public is an integral part of our center,“ said NTC Director Sadik Esener, PhD, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering.

”The public needs to be aware of and informed about progress in cancer research in key fields such as nanotechnology,“ noted Dennis Carson, MD, Director of the Moores UCSD Cancer Center, an NTC member. ”These types of educational projects are vital to its continued support and success.“

The nanomedicine webinar series, the first of many to come, is designed for the clinical and research communities worldwide as well as industry professionals and general public interested in learning about progress made in medical research. The goal is to educate on the translational progress of applications using nanotechnology to address disease. ”We are committed to fill an important void and place the attention on real progress, not just promise or hype,“ said Adriana Vela, Founder and CEO of NanoTecNexus. ”I am proud to say that, since our inception, we have not wavered from delivering quality content.“ See brochure at http://ntc-ccne.org/Seminars/nanomed/index.html

Additionally, industry and commercialization focused webinars are planned for delivery in January 2010. Experts in topics ranging from nanotech venture financing and the art of the term sheet to winning strategies for SBIR grant proposals are among commercialization topics being planned. The industry focused segments are designed for entrepreneurial and commercial companies as well as technology and business professionals interested in nanotechnology opportunities. Visit www.nanotecnexus.org for the latest webinar release dates.

About NanoTecNexus NanoTecNexus (NTN), formerly known as NanoBioNexus, is a leading non-profit organization headquartered in San Diego with offices in Tucson AZ, San Jose, CA and Vancouver, WA. NTN is dedicated to catalyzing collaboration and knowledge exchange in the nanotech field by connecting people, technology, industry and investment. NanoTecNexus enables constituents worldwide to keep up-to-date on the developments of cutting-edge nanotechnologies. Nanotechnology involves manipulating matter on an atomic or molecular scale smaller than 100 nanometers (1 nm=1 billionths of a meter) and taking advantage of properties that are present at that scale. Nanotechnology is used in thousands of applications in medicine and health, energy and water, defense and many others. On the Net: www.nanotecnexus.org

About Moores UCSD Cancer Center The Moores UCSD Cancer Center is one of the nation’s 41 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, combining research, clinical care and community outreach to advance the prevention, treatment and cure of cancer. For more information, visit www.cancer.ucsd.edu

About the NanoTumor Center The NTC is a five-year, $20-million National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded public-private consortium and one of only eight such NCI-backed programs in the nation. UCSD physicians, engineers, chemists and biologists collaborate with colleagues at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, in addition to various industry partners, to examine the potential uses of nanotechnology in cancer detection, imaging and treatment. For more information, visit http://ntc-ccne.org

Nanostart majority-owned MagForce announces successful completion of phase II clinical trials for Nano-Cancer® therapy

Study objective significantly exceeded

Median survival time doubled

Therapy shown to be highly effective, with minimal side effects

Application for EU regulatory approval to be submitted before end of year

Frankfurt / Berlin – November 03, 2009 – MagForce Nanotechnologies AG, the Berlin-based medical technology company majority owned by Nanostart AG, today announced the successful completion of phase II clinical trials demonstrating the efficacy of its Nano-Cancer® therapy in patients with recurrent glioblastoma, a frequent form of brain tumor which is highly malignant. The actual study results significantly exceeded the study objective.

According to a previous study among a large patient population, the median survival time following diagnosis of a glioblastoma recurrence and treatment with conventional therapy (surgery, chemotherapy and radiation) is 6.2 months. The primary objective for the Nano-Cancer® therapy study was to demonstrate an extension of the median survival time in the recruited patient group by three months compared to this historical control group.

In fact, the median survival time of the 59 patients participating in the phase II clinical trials was 13.4 months following treatment with Nano-Cancer® therapy in conjunction with radiation. The median survival time was thus significantly greater, more than double that of the control population.

The results were even more remarkable in that Nano-Cancer® therapy was tested not on newly diagnosed patients with primary tumors but rather as a study involving patients who had already endured treatment with conventional therapies, as well as the unpleasant effects generally associated with these. Following regulatory approval of the new therapy, it is expected that it will also be available for use in treating other types of localized tumors, as these are generally responsive to the same principle of using warmth to destroy or degrade cancer cells.

MagForce founder and chief scientific officer Dr. Andreas Jordan commented, ”The results demonstrate the potential of Nano-Cancer® therapy, which at the same time has minimal patient side effects. Our vision is to establish this new technology alongside surgery, chemotherapy and radiation as an additional pillar of cancer therapy.“

Marco Beckmann, CEO of Nanostart AG, went on to add, ”We enthusiastically congratulate Dr. Jordan and his team on the superb study results. It is my belief that we may thank nanotechnology for a historical advance in medical science.“

In addition to its high efficacy of which has now been conclusively demonstrated, Nano-Cancer® therapy offers an additional and very significant advantage compared to the existing conventional therapy alternatives of surgical intervention, chemotherapy and radiation: Nano-Cancer® therapy is tolerated extremely well by patients and, despite its high efficacy, has no serious or unpleasant side effects.

The results of these clinical trials will now form the basis of application for EU regulatory approval for the new therapy, which will be submitted before the end of this year. Once EU regulatory approval has been obtained, MagForce will be able to market its Nano-Cancer® therapy throughout the European Union. The detailed study results will be published shortly in a medical journal.

Nano-Cancer® therapy represents a completely new way to fight cancer and is world’s first approach to use magnetic nanoparticles to treat tumors with virtually no side effects. This is done by injecting specially coated iron oxide nanoparticles directly and precisely into the tumor so that they remain concentrated in the tumor and do not diffuse into the surrounding healthy tissue. The nanoparticles within the tumor are then heated to an exact temperature by externally applying an external magnetic field. In this way, tumor temperatures of up to 70°C (158°F) can be precisely attained within a fraction of a degree. This heat damages the tumor or destroys it completely. During the treatment procedure, patients feel only a moderate warming sensation.

Nanostart AG has been Lead Investor in MagForce Nanotechnologies since 2004 and currently holds approx. 77% of its shares.

Please visit our new microsite on the Nano-Cancer® therapy

About Nanostart: Nanostart AG is the world’s leading nanotechnology investment company. The Frankfurt-based company provides venture capital financing for nanotechnology companies in various growth phases. It also provides the benefits of its experience and expertise to developers of financial instruments and to investors in the nanotechnology sector. For further information about the company, please visit www.nanostart.de

About MagForce Nanotechnologies:

Disclaimer: This notice constitutes neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of offers to purchase or subscribe to securities. There will be no public offering of securities of Nanostart AG in conjunction with the existing listing of its shares in the ”Entry Standard“ segment of the regulated unofficial market (Freiverkehr) on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. This notice does not constitute a securities prospectus. Neither this notice nor the information contained within is intended for direct or indirect distribution within the United States of America, Canada, Australia or Japan.

Berkeley Lab has posted new technologies for licensing:

Improved Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells

http://www.lbl.gov/Tech-Transfer/techs/lbnl2582.html

Heat Transfer Interface for Thermo-Solar Energy

http://www.lbl.gov/Tech-Transfer/techs/lbnl2604.html

and

Direct Conversion of Light to Work

http://www.lbl.gov/Tech-Transfer/techs/lbnl2706.html

Berkeley Lab is seeking industry partners interested in licensing its technologies. We are a Department of Energy national laboratory managed by the University of California and located in Berkeley, California. Our mission includes working with industry to commercialize Berkeley Lab inventions.

Please contact us at (510) 486-6461 or ttd@lbl.gov to discuss licensing possibilities.

Pam Seidenman

Marketing Manager

Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Management Department

Berkeley Lab

(510) 486-6461

PICKING SOLAR’S RISING STARS ON THE LUX INNOVATION GRID

A select few of 127 photovoltaic module makers will emerge from the solar shakeout, says Lux Research.

It’s been a sobering year in the solar market. Oversupply has forced module makers to reduce prices as much as 30% in the past twelve months. Despite the looming shakeout, expectations of future growth still attract new challengers to an industry already overcrowded with competitors and a tangled mix of technology platforms. Only a select few will emerge as dominant players, according to a new report from Lux Research.

Entitled ”Sorting Solar Module Makers on the Lux Innovation Grid,“ the report provides suppliers, customers, and investors with Lux Research’s proprietary visual model that quantitatively compares 127 module makers according to their technical value, business execution, and maturity.

”The core value of this report is being able to see top module makers all ranked in one place,“ said Johanna Schmidtke, an analyst at Lux Research and the report’s lead author. ”It allows readers to compare different technology classes, as well as to benchmark the companies operating within each class against each other.“

Based on information gathered in over 200 interviews with industry executives, the report encompasses solar technologies including crystalline silicon (x-Si), thin film silicon (TF-Si), cadmium telluride (CdTe), copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS), concentrated photovoltaics CPV), and organic and Grätzel PV. It rates companies within these fields on the Lux Innovation Grid to identify dominant, undistinguished, long-shot, and high potential players. Among its conclusions:

• Select x-Si module vendors continue to dominate installation markets. Improved polysilicon pricing should help cement crystalline silicon’s advantage in most installation markets through next year. Players such as Sanyo Electric, SunPower and Sharp Electronics are best positioned to pursue tailored, high-efficiency products for the residential market.

• Thin-film PV will gain market share in commercial and utility. Aside from First Solar, the thin film PV market is wide open, with no companies clearly dominating and many at risk. Their future survival depends on how well they grow capacity, deliver performance and reliability, and prove cost competitive over x-Si. First Solar, meanwhile, will compete against x-Si module makers for utility-scale installations in the U.S. and China.

• A mixed bag of CIGS start-ups shows no clear leaders. As a group, CIGS start-ups show a range of technical value and business execution scores, but none have mastered both dimensions yet. Solibro and Solyndra offer strong technical value, but still lack the business execution to dominate the field. Similarly, Johanna Solar Technology and Showa Shell Sekiyu present convincing business execution scores, but haven’t yet shown the differentiated technical value needed to make a true impact.

”Unlike the battery industry, where end applications are very diverse, solar is populated by a lot of module makers all targeting the same few applications: utility, commercial, and residential installations,“ said Schmidtke. ”The Lux Innovation Grid will give readers a sense of who’s ahead, who’s behind, and who’s just treading water.“

”Sorting Solar Module Makers on the Lux Innovation Grid“ is part of the Lux Solar Intelligence service. Clients subscribing to this service receive ongoing research on market and technology trends, continuous technology scouting reports and proprietary data points in the weekly Lux Research Solar Journal, and on-demand inquiry with Lux Research analysts.

About Lux Research

Lux Research provides strategic advice and on-going intelligence for emerging technologies. Leaders in business, finance and government rely on us to help them make informed strategic decisions. Through our unique research approach focused on primary research and our extensive global network, we deliver insight, connections and competitive advantage to our clients. Visit www.luxresearchinc.com for more information.

Global - Middle East

Konarka and Enviromena Power Systems

Collaborate on Shade Structure Projects in Middle East

Konarka and Enviromena Testing Integration of Konarka Power Plastic® into Shade Structure Applications

Lowell, Mass and Abu Dhabi, UAE. – Oct. 29, 2009 – Konarka Technologies, Inc., an innovator in development and commercialization of Konarka Power Plastic®, a material that converts light to energy, today announced the company is collaborating with Enviromena Power Systems, leading developer of solar projects in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), to investigate the integration of Konarka Power Plastic into various Enviromena shade structure projects. The agreement outlines an application development program that includes design through commercialization.

”We are pleased to be working with Enviromena on joint materials evaluation and application development for shade structures in the Middle East and North Africa,“ stated Dr. Terri Jordan, vice president of business development for Konarka. ”We anticipate a unique fit with our organic PV material, as it is well suited for flexible and lightweight product requirements. Together, we look to develop viable green architectural alternatives for the region."

The leading solar developer in the Middle East and North Africa, Enviromena has an impressive list of completed projects for clients such as Masdar and Aldar, the largest developer in the region and the largest installed capacity of any solar developer in MENA. The company develops projects for utility scale solutions, commercial solutions and remote power solutions across the Middle East, an area experiencing a huge shift towards alternative energy which is being driven by forward looking Government initiatives and an increased demand for solar technology.

”Enviromena is excited to be working with a cutting edge technology provider like Konarka,“ stated Sami Khoreibi, CEO of Enviromena. ”As the leading solar developer in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), we are confident that this collaboration will provide innovative solar solutions into one of the fastest growing solar markets globally. Combining Konarka’s unique flexible Power Plastic solar technology with Enviromena’s experience in the MENA region, which includes the successful completion of the largest PV solar power plant in the Middle East, will surely lead to offerings specifically designed for the Middle Eastern climate.“

Konarka will be demonstrating its Power Plastic material at Solar Power International 2009, October 27 – 29, 2009 in Anaheim, Calif., booth # 1660. For more information on the event, visit: http://www.solarpowerinternational.com/.

For more information on Power Plastic, visit:

http://www.konarka.com/index.php/power-plastic/about-power-plastic/.

About Enviromena Power Systems

Enviromena Power Systems is the leading developer of solar projects in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Our highly experienced team finance, designs, installs and operates solar power plants. We partner with governments, utilities, corporations, investors and individuals to deliver turnkey solar power solutions. Our portfolio of projects includes the largest solar power plant ever constructed in the MENA region. Working closely with international technology partners, Enviromena offers zero-carbon solutions to meet growing energy demands. For more information, visit: http://www.enviromena.com.

About Konarka Technologies, Inc.

All trademarks recognized.

Global - Germany

Nanostart increases its investment

in promising portfolio company Curiox

Nanostart increases stake in promising Singaporean start-up to almost 19%

Expansion in USA and Europe

New contracts with corporate groups to be signed soon

Recognized co-investors

Frankfurt am Main / Singapore – 28. October, 2009 – Nanostart has increased its stake in Curiox Biosystems Pte Ltd, Singapore, to almost 19% by a follow-up investment through its Nanostart Singapore Early Stage Venture Fund I.

The investment is part of a second financing round, in which several experienced life science investors as well as a corporate investor joined as new investors in Curiox. Nanostart remains the lead investor. This is also the first investment of Nanostart’s recently closed Nanostart Singapore Early Stage Venture Fund.

The funds shall help Curiox to tackle the therapeutics screening market for pharmaceutical and biotech firms. Having successfully established its semi-automated product, the DropArray™ LT, with numerous customers from universities and government research laboratories in Singapore, the company now aims to introduce this new product line to the market and also to expand internationally, in particular to the USA and Europe. The DropArray™ HT targets primarily big pharma and biotech companies and major research labs which require a significant level of automation, whereas the DropArray™ LT serves as a semi-automated solution for smaller research labs.

Referring to the expansion plans, Namyong Kim, CEO of Curiox, says: „We are happy about the continuing support from our existing investors and the expanded investors base. We will use the funds to expand our product line and gain the first customers overseas. We expect to close deals with major customers very soon.”

Andreas Kröll, Managing Director of Nanostart Asia and Nanostart’s representative on Curiox’ board, comments: „The strong investor interest underlines the huge potential of the company’s products. After the financing, we will hold almost 19% in the company, which represents a great asset for Nanostart AG and its shareholders”

About Curiox Biosystems Pte Ltd:

Curiox Biosystems has a vision to accelerate the progress of life sciences and drug discovery through better miniaturization. Curiox is a bioinstrumentation company enabling the miniaturization of heterogeneous bioassay for researchers working in life sciences, drug discovery, and diagnostics. Curiox’s patented miniaturization platform, DropArray™, provides up to 1,000 times savings in sample and reagent consumption, and up to 10 times reduction in assay time. The company is located in Singapore, the biomedical hub of Southeast Asia. The company is a spin-off from Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) backed primarily by Nanostart and Exploit Technologies, the commercializing arm of Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). For further information, please visit www.curiox.com.

Global-Germany

Smart Integrated Biodiagnostic Systems for Healthcare

Düsseldorf/Germany - The EC-funded SmartHEALTH Integrated Project to present its latest results at a booth and a dedicated workshop at ComPaMed, Düsseldorf, 18th-20th Nov 2009

The SmartHEALTH project is designed to develop and deliver the next generation of smart bio-diagnostic systems capable of being fully integrated into healthcare systems in Europe. Driven by key applications in cancer diagnostics, SmartHEALTH will enable enhanced medical diagnosis leading to earlier and more precise results and thus contributing to an increased quality of life.

In addressing the high economic burden of the healthcare sector, prevention, early diagnosis and informed therapeutics are indispensable. Tests must be highly accurate and well integrated into medical management to avoid unnecessary treatment and stress to users.

SmartHEALTH will address these complex issues by developing highly intelligent diagnostic technologies that can be fully integrated into healthcare systems, optimising their impact in management and work practice. Driven by key targeted applications in cancer diagnostics (breast, cervical and colorectal), the project will deliver prototype systems with the aim of moving instrumentation from the laboratory, through to portable devices localised at the 'point of care'.

Cancers are not 'cured' but 'managed'. One of the major areas of progress with cancers, for example, breast cancer, is the benefit of long term therapies for reducing growth rates. This approach requires regular monitoring such that the efficacy of maintenance therapy is rapidly noted and different therapy can be initiated if and when required. This necessitates regular testing for cancer load. People wish to avoid hospital yet want results interpreted expertly and communicated rapidly. They want tests that do not miss problems yet avoid unnecessary worry. SmartHEALTH aims to develop such integrated cancer monitoring diagnostic devices, eventually useable in localized and more available settings.

The overall SmartHEALTH objectives include:

Introduce new SmartHEALTH sensor systems into future healthcare services to improve and better existing services

Demonstrate the role of on-line services for pervasive healthcare provision

Demonstrate clinical evaluation of systems for targeted applications in breast, cervical and colorectal cancer

Assess the economic benefits and means of healthcare provision for the targeted clinical applications

Develop new manufacturing and packaging technologies for realisation of unique sensor solutions integrating fluidics, transducers and biological assays

Facilitate ethical and social acceptance of SmartHEALTH technology

The SmartHEALTH project will be present at booth F29/2 at ComPaMed, Düsseldorf/Germany, to display a desktop POC instrument for detection of cancer markers, a series of detection chips (Electrochemical Detection Chip, Circular Disc Resonator Sensor, qPCR chip for detection of HPV, qPCR chip for detection of colorectal cancer, and a number of fluidic modules such as RNA-extraction, plasma generation, lyophilisation platforms, or micro mixers.

The project is also organising a workshop on Friday, 20th November, 11:00-13:30, within the ComPaMed Forum which includes a Panel Discussion on 'Enabling Point-of-Care Diagnostics: Lab-on-a-Chip innovative Sensor Technologies'. More information is available from: www.ivam.de/index.php?content=messe_details&id=383 or www.SmartHEALTHIP.com.

About the SmartHEALTH Integrated Project

Driven by clinical applications and MNT & IST technology, the SmartHEALTH project will develop an open integrated architecture for new biodiagnostic systems to support European companies exploiting bioassays or new application concepts. The initial system has a disposable fluidic cartridge with a desktop base-station linking to the ambient e-Health environment. Ultimately, this system will perform multi-analyte sensing and data/trend analysis for nucleic acids and proteins and will be modular to allow multiple biological sample types to be dealt with. Results will be interpreted and presented using bio-information analysis based on trained neural networks. Systems will be healthcare ?user identity-? and ?ambient environment-? aware, respecting confidentiality and information access rights. This concept will be miniaturized and cost engineered into a portable and more available system. The project will enable enhanced medical diagnosis, leading to earlier and more precise results contributing to an increased quality of life as well as increasing the competitiveness of the European in vitro diagnostics (IVD) sector. Clinical areas for SmartHEALTH application are in Cancer Diagnostics - breast cancer recurrence monitoring, cervical cancer case finding, and colorectal cancer diagnostics, prognostics and theranostics. Each application includes clinical instrument evaluation and commercial exploitation partners.

The SmartHEALTH Integrated Project is funded by the European Commission under project identifier FP6-2004-IST-NMP-2-016817. More information: www.SmartHEALTHIP.com

Konarka Solar Panels Power Neuber’s Energy Sun-Bags

Konarka Power Plastic® Integrated into Lightest Solar Energy Bag Available

for Powering Electronics On-the-Go

Lowell, Mass. – Oct. 27, 2009 – Konarka Technologies, Inc., an innovator in development and commercialization of Konarka Power Plastic®, a material that converts light to energy, today announced the company’s Konarka Power Plastic solar panels have been integrated into German-based Neuber’s Energy Sun-Bags, the lightest solar energy bag available on the market. Now available for purchase, the business and leisure bags charge mobile phones, digital cameras, iPods, Mp3 Players and more with solar power.

”There is great demand for a versatile, flexible solar bag giving users the ability to charge mobile devices on the move,“ commented Alexander Valenzuela, vice president of European business development at Konarka. ”Thanks to Konarka’s light weight, flexible Power Plastic solar panels, Neuber’s bag is the lightest solar bag available in the market.“

Sun-Bags weigh only 500 grams including the battery, bag structure and solar panel. Available in 37 colors with optional custom printing, users never have to worry about getting to a power connection to charge devices. Neuber’s Sun-Bags are currently available globally. Pricing begins at 99 Euro (under $150 USD). To purchase, visit: http://www.energysun-bags.de.

Applications powered by Konarka’s Power Plastic® material, including Neuber’s Energy Sun-Bags, are being showcased at Solar Power International 2009, October 27 – 29, 2009 in Anaheim, Calif., booth # 1660. For more information on the event, visit: http://www.solarpowerinternational.com/.

About Konarka Technologies, Inc.

All trademarks recognized.

Paper on Pixel-Sub-Stepping / Image Resolution Enhancement with Piezoelectric Mechanisms

Oct, 2009, Auburn, MA –– Piezo specialist PI has published a paper on image resolution enhancement and image stabilization for electronic imaging sensors based on fast piezo actuation.

The paper describes basic techniques and explains different piezoelectric motion principles such as flexure mechanisms and ultrasonic motors.

Paper Download at:

http://www.pi-usa.us/pdf/

Paper_Imaging_Resolution_Enhancement_With_Piezo_Mechanisms.pdf

Image at:

www.pi-usa.us/PRL/ImageResEnhancement.jpg

Resolution Limiting Factors

In order to increase the resolution of common imaging detectors such as CCDs or CMOS either the chip size can be increased or the pixel size be reduced; both solutions have undesirable side-effects.

The first case requires a larger recording device and different imaging optics. In the second case, light sensitivity decreases with the pixel size, also reducing the signal/noise ratio.

Super-Resolution with Pixel Sub-Stepping

With so-called pixel sub-stepping, the recording area is moved on predefined paths with a defined frequency. This ”dithering“, where the travel is less than the size of a pixel, causes the pixel to be exposed several times on the recording area, producing a virtual ”pixel multiplier“ which can significantly improve the resolution without negative side-effects.

Today, small and cost efficient piezo devices (in-plane scanners or tip/tilt mechanisms) are available to handle the task. In addition to image resolution enhancement, these devices are also fast enough to remove jitter induced by vibration from images and video.

About PI

PI is a leading manufacturer of piezo actuators, piezo linear motors and precision motion-control equipment for optics, photonics, bio-nanotechnology & semiconductor applications. PI has been developing and manufacturing standard & custom precision products with piezoceramic and electromagnetic drives for 35+ years. The company has been ISO 9001 certified since 1994 and provides innovative, high-quality solutions for OEM and research. PI is present worldwide with eight subsidiaries and total staff of 500+

USA / Canada: www.pi-usa.us

East: David Rego

Tel: (508) 832-3456

Fax: (508) 832-0506

Email: info@pi-usa.us

Midwest Joe McGonagle

(815) 793-3776

Email: info@pi-usa.us

West David Steinberg

Tel: (949) 679-9191

Fax: (949) 679-9292

Email: info@pi-usa.us

Europe: www.pi.ws

Germany: +49 (721) 4846-0

Italy: +39 (02) 665 011 01

France: +33 (1) 481 039 30

UK: +44 (1582) 764 334

Asia

Japan: +81 (6) 6304 5605

http://www.pi-japan.jp/

China +86 (21) 687 900 08

http://www.pi-china.cn

Lux Research Biosciences State of the Market:

Finding Exits for Biofuels and Biomaterials Investors

Join us for a Webinar on November 17

Space is limited.

Reserve your Webinar seat now at:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/186956875

For environmental and economic reasons, the world is trying to find renewable fuels and materials, and break what even environmentally-skeptical former U.S. President George Bush called an ”addiction to oil.“ To that end, some $4.2 billion of private money has been invested in the last decade – much of it from oil companies themselves -- in non-medical biotechnologies like biofuels and bioplastics. But the vast majority of that funding has come since 2006, meaning that of 170 companies backed since 1998, most are very new, and only nine have seen successful exits. Without past companies’ performance as a guide, and given many obvious differences between these new technologies and the business models that VCs are used to funding, it’s not surprising that investors have made mistakes – and will continue to do so if they do not alter their strategies. Lux Research monitors and analyzes technology and investment trends across the gamut of agricultural and industrial biotechnology to reveal more nuanced patterns of VC investment in genetically modified food and energy, pest resistance, biomaterials, chemicals, industrial enzymes, and first- and next-generation bio-energy. Join us to answer these questions and more:

• What companies in biofuels have received funding, and what has come of those investments?

• When will investment in cellulosic ethanol technologies peak?

• Why has there been a sudden shift to algae?

• Is there a future in biofuels at all?

• Which bioplastics developers have received funds and what materials are they pursuing?

Title: Lux Research Biosciences State of the Market: Finding Exits for Biofuels and Biomaterials Investors

Date: Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements

PC-based attendees

Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Macintosh®-based attendees

Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer

Global-Switzerland

Switzerland Announces Winners of

Significant Investment Projects for 2008

Baxter International, Yahoo!, AGCO, Alcon Corporation, and CSL Behring to receive 'Tell Awards' from Switzerland's Ambassador to the U.S. Urs Ziswiler

Good Corporate Citizenship Award Presented to Medtronic

WASHINGTON, October 20 - Baxter International, Yahoo!, Alcon Corporation, AGCO, Medtronic and CSL Behring will receive Tell Awards for Switzerland's most significant inward investment projects by North American firms in 2008, reports Mario Brossi, North American senior advisor for Switzerland Trade and Investment Promotion. The awards are named for the legendary Swiss hero William Tell and will be presented on October 26 by Switzerland's Ambassador to the U.S. Urs Ziswiler.

The Tell Awards date from 2004 in a program recognizing projects by U.S., Canadian and Mexican firms, Mr. Brossi said. The program has grown in terms of interest expressed in Switzerland and overseas. The awards are sponsored by the Swiss Embassy, Switzerland Trade and Investment Promotion, and the American - Swiss Business Council based in Washington.

Baxter International receives the 2008 award for the most significant manufacturing operation recognizing the opening of its new production facility in Neuchatel. The expansion doubles the size of its operations, which have been recognized as a Center of Excellence for Bio-Tech. Baxter also has locations in San Vittore, Volketswil and Wallisellen.

The most significant headquarters project award for 2008 goes to Yahoo! after moving its European Headquarters from London to Rolle, near Lausanne.

Two awards for significant expansion projects are presented for 2008. Agriculture equipment manufacturer and distributor AGCO expanded its operations in Schaffhausen by making it its new strategic headquarters for the European and Asia Pacific Regions. Ophthalmology and eye related product manufacturer Alcon Corporation added to its presence in Switzerland with a new EMEA headquarters in Geneva. The company?s other facilities are in Zug and Fribourg.

The award for the most significant innovative technology investment in 2008 goes to CSL Behring for its investment in the development of a novel, next-generation immunoglobulin therapy for people with primary immune deficiencies. CSL Behring has constructed a new plant for the therapy at its Center of Excellence in Berne, combining state-of-the-art industrial scale filtration technology, highly efficient separation processes and advanced formulation know-how to provide increased volumes of enhanced therapy for patients. CSL Behring has increased the number of employees at the facility from 750 to more than 950 people.

Previous award winners are Merck & Company, Albany International, Intuitive Surgical, Johnson & Johnson, Autodesk, CEMEX, Electronic Arts, Kyphon, Microsoft, Amgen, IBM, Stryker, VeriSign, Celgene, eBay, Google and P&G. Please see our website at www.locationswitzerland.com for copies of those previous releases.

The 2008 'Good Corporate Citizenship Award' is being presented to Minneapolis-based Medtronic for its continued growth in Canton Vaud. The company invested SFr 60 million in 1997 to build its European headquarters there and since has invested an additional SFr 50 million in three expansions that today accommodate more than 850 people across more than 55 nationalities. The company participates in the life of the community through The Medtronic Foundation supporting worthy programs in the areas of health, education and community welfare. Medtronic also has facilities in Neuchatel and Berne.

"Despite a general economic turndown Switzerland continued to be a major recipient of US direct investments during 2008," Mr. Brossi said. "New foreign direct investment projects into Switzerland from North America during the year totaled 37 with an additional 12 expansions of existing projects and 23 investments involving M&A transactions and strategic alliances," he said.

"New projects are key indicators of an attractive FDI environment,? Mr. Brossi commented, ?and since 2001 these total 194. Over the same period expansions, which serve as an indicator of satisfaction by existing investors with Switzerland, total 81. Mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances provide another route of entry to the Swiss and broader European market. Since 2001 these amount to 189 projects."

According to a survey of European tax systems, compiled by KPMG International, in which major business organizations across Europe assessed the attractiveness of their domestic tax systems, Switzerland ranks third behind Cyprus and Ireland respectively. The survey is based on particular aspects of the tax system, including consistency, stability over time, volume of legislation, the tax rate, and relationships with tax authorities.

"Switzerland?s well-educated multilingual, multicultural population, of which nearly 20% are non-Swiss, makes it easier for investors to do business across the broader European market," Mr. Brossi noted. "This is another reason why, all told, some 7,000 foreign companies have operations in the country."

Lifetime & Reliability and of Multilayer Piezo Actuators

Oct, 2009, Auburn, MA –– Piezo specialist PI (Physik Instrumente) has released a new paper on piezo actuator lifetime and reliability.

The paper describes the development and lifetime tests of ceramic encapsulated actuators in comparision with conventional polymer coated piezo actuators. Dynamic operation with a new internal electrode design for stress reduction as well as special external electrodes for high-current applications are discussed.

Several graphs enable the quick calculation of lifetime under different operational and environmental conditions.

Paper Download at:

http://www.pi-usa.us/pdf/Piezo_Actuator_Lifetime_Test_Reliability_Results.pdf

About PI

PI is a leading manufacturer of piezo actuators, piezo linear motors and precision motion-control equipment for photonics, bio-nanotechnology & semiconductor applications. PI has been developing and manufacturing standard & custom precision products with piezoceramic and electromagnetic drives for 35+ years. The company has been ISO 9001 certified since 1994 and provides innovative, high-quality solutions for OEM and research. PI is present worldwide with eight subsidiaries and total staff of 500+

Coatema at the ICE 2009 in Munich

After the extremely successful ICE exhibition in 2007, Messrs. Coatema Coating Machinery GmbH will be again exhibitor at the ICE 2009, taking place from 24th to 26th of November 2009 in Munich. At our booth No. 2-K21 in hall 2, we will inform you about coating and handling technologies and perform live coating on our Basecoater.

With a record attendance of 4200 top-class professional visitors from all over the world, the 5th International Converting Exhibition (27.-29. März 2007) could again sustain its position as Europe´s leading trade fair for the converting industry.

For some time now, an increasing use of coated products in the converting area can be observed. The development of adequate coating technologies and the ideal treatment of all components poses a big challenge to mechanical engineering.

Coatema Coating develops custom machines that are tailor-made for the customer´s product. Because of the large variety of the substrates and chemistry used, each machine is unique. With our coating machines, wovens, single-, bi- and multidirectional structures can be processed, independent of the later direction of force.

We would be happy to welcome interested customers at our booth No. 2-K21 in hall 2 to discuss future developments and projects. Basecoater for converting products Coatema´s R&D Center on 1200 m² - Working widths from 250 to 2.000 mm ICE International Converting Exhibition 24th to 26th of November 2009

Nanocoating by Nanostart holding ItN Nanovation

is flying to the Mercury

European space agency ESA chooses ItN Nanovation as project partner for mission to Mercury

Satellite with high-performance ItN-coating is scheduled to take off in 2014

The assignment underlines the capability of the products and the high

international reputation of the Nanostart holding

Saarbrücken / Frankfurt – October 01, 2009 – Nanostart holding ItN Nanovation AG (ISIN DE000A0JL461) with its high expertise and successful work in the field of nanoscale coatings has been selected to develop important thermal coatings for the BepiColombo Mercury probe of the European space agency ESA and JAXA, the Japanese Space Agency. The coating is designed to be applied on the high gain antenna of the satellite. ItN Nanovation is cooperating with the antenna reflector contractor, the Astrium GmbH, a subsidiary of EADS, and with Thales Alenia Space Italy responsible of the overall Antenna.

The coating is exposed to extreme conditions during the mission which is planned to last about seven years: in cruise and subsequently in the orbit of the Mercury with very high UV-,electron- and proton radiation at temperatures above 400°C. Mercury is the planet closest to the sun with an average distance to the sun of ca. 58 million kilometres. The farthest distance to Earth is approximately 220 million kilometres. The UV radiation in the orbit of Mercury is 10 to 14 times higher than in the orbit of planet Earth and is causing severe deterioration of the thermal properties of conventional coatings. First tests with ItN Nanovation coatings under space conditions showed a good stability after high UV-irradiation.

The ESA´s BepiColombo mission is going to be realized by an international consortia under the leadership of Astrium GmbH, Friedrichshafen. It is scheduled to be launched in 2014. After travelling for about six years the satellite will enter Mercury orbit to explore the planet for at least one year. Among several investigations (e.g. investigations in the magnetosphere of Mercury), BepiColombo will establish a complete map of Mercury at different wavelengths. This will allow to map the planet's mineralogy and elemental composition and determine whether the interior of the planet is molten or not.

Dr. Ralph Nonninger, CTO of ItN Nanovation and responsible for research and development is commenting: "We are proud that we can participate in such a demanding space mission and that we have been chosen by Astrium GmbH as developing partner for the coating system of the high gain antenna. The assignment as development partner underlines once more – besides the economical implications for ItN Nanovation - the capability of our products and the high international reputation of our enterprise."

More information at:

http://www.esa.int and http://sci.esa.int

About ItN Nanovation: ItN Nanovation AG is one of the leading nanotechnology companies in the world, developing innovative ceramic products, such as filtration systems and coatings, for large industrial customers. The nanoscale powder needed for those products is manufactured by the company itself. ItN Nanovation was formed in 2000 and currently has over 100 employees. The company's success is founded on an extensive patent portfolio, combined with comprehensive development and application know-how. For further information about the company, please visit www.itn-nanovation.com.

Nanopositioning goes 24 Bit:

USB Interface and High-Resolution DA/AD Converters

Auburn, MA, Piezo system specialist PI is switching to a new generation of 24-bit resolution, nanopositioning stage controllers. The new controllers will enable better than 100 picometers command resolution for even the latest generation, long-travel, piezo nanopositioning systems (1 mm and up), such as the PIHera™ series closed-loop flexure stages. The use of 24-bit converters represents more than 2 orders of magnitude improvement over the still widely used 16-bit converters.

USB Interface, 1 to 12 Channels, Many Variations

The new controllers feature a high speed USB interface and come in a variety of bench-top, rack-mount and OEM card versions from single-channel units for simple linear actuator applications, to multi-axis system controllers with 12 channels per rack.

Features and Advantages

Integrated USB Interface, 24 bit converters for higher position resolution.

Additional RS-232 interface for compatibility with industrial controllers

Extensive software libraries & GUIs; support for LabView, Matlab, text-based programming languages

Analog interface for compatibility with NI cards and analog control signals

Network capability with up to 12 channels for multiaxis positioning applications

Choice of position feedback sensors: capacitive for highest precision and piezoresistive / strain gauges for cost sensitive applications

Integrated servo controller with notch filter for higher bandwidth

User programmable data tables for random waveform generation

Extensive Software Support, Hardware-Independent Command Set

The new piezo controllers come with Windows installation software, DLLs and LabVIEW drivers. The extensive command set is based on the hardware-independent General Command Set (GCS), common to all PI micro & nanopositioning systems. GCS reduces the programming effort in the face of complex multi-axis positioning tasks or when upgrading a system with a different PI controller.

About PI

PI is a leading manufacturer of piezo stages, piezo linear motors and precision motion-control equipment for photonics, bio-nanotechnology & semiconductor applications. PI has been developing and manufacturing standard & custom precision products with piezoceramic and electromagnetic drives for 4 decades. The company has been ISO 9001 certified since 1994 and provides innovative, high-quality solutions for OEM and research. PI is present worldwide with eight subsidiaries and total staff of 500+

USA / Canada: www.pi-usa.us

East: David Rego

Tel: (508) 832-3456

Fax: (508) 832-0506

Email: info@pi-usa.us

Midwest Joe McGonagle

(815) 793-3776

Email: info@pi-usa.us

West David Steinberg

Tel: (949) 679-9191

Fax: (949) 679-9292

Email: info@pi-usa.us

Europe: www.pi.ws

Germany: +49 (721) 4846-0

Italy: +39 (02) 665 011 01

France: +33 (1) 481 039 30

UK: +44 (1582) 764 334

Asia: www.pi-japan.jp

Japan: +81 (6) 6304 5605

China +86 (21) 687 900 08

Nanostart subsidiary MagForce: Patient recruitment for phase II clinical trials for Nano-Cancer® therapy successfully completed

Critical milestone achieved toward successful conclusion of phase II clinical trials

Application for regulatory approval of Nano-Cancer® therapy later this year

Sales and marketing within European Union expected to begin in 2010

Frankfurt / Berlin – September 23, 2009 – MagForce Nanotechnologies AG, a majority-owned subsidiary of Nanostart AG, has recruited the last remaining patients into the ongoing phase II clinical trials to demonstrate the efficacy of its proprietary Nano-Cancer® therapy in cases of recurrent glioblastoma. With this milestone, the necessary number of patients for statistical evaluation has been attained, marking the last key prerequisite to successfully conclude these clinical trials and proceed to regulatory approval. Glioblastoma is the most commonly occurring type of malignant brain tumor in adults.

The results of these phase II clinical trials will serve as the basis for the conformity evaluation procedure required under the German Medical Devices Act (Medizinproduktegesetz). This procedure qualifies medical devices for CE marking, which certifies conformity with health and safety regulations throughout the European Economic Area. MagForce hopes to establish its new therapy, which is virtually free of patient side effects, as a fourth pillar alongside the existing standard cancer treatment methods: surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

”We plan on preparing the statistical data in the fourth quarter of 2009, as soon as enough patients have concluded the post-observation period or have otherwise reached the study endpoint, so that we will be able to have the product file put together before the end of this year. Once we have received the CE marking, we hope to be in a position already next year to commence marketing of Nano-Cancer® therapy throughout Europe,“ said Dr. Uwe Maschek, CEO of MagForce Nanotechnologies AG.

Marco Beckmann, CEO of Nanostart AG, added that ”we are watching with great excitement as regulatory approval for the unique Nano-Cancer® therapy from our subsidiary MagForce Nanotechnologies gets closer and closer. The completion of patient recruitment marks one of the final milestones toward this goal.“

Nanostart AG, the leading nanotechnology investment company, owns 77 percent of the shares of the Berlin-based cancer research company.

About Nanostart:

About MagForce Nanotechnologies AG:

Disclaimer:

Konarka Announces Availability of Solar Panels for Portable Charging Applications at European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference

- Manufacturing Partner Products including Battery Chargers, Café Umbrellas and Carry Bags Available with Konarka Power Plastic® by Year’s End

Lowell, Mass. and Hamburg, Germany (EU PVSEC, Stand #B5/71) – Sept. 21, 2009 – Konarka Technologies, Inc., an innovator in development and commercialization of Konarka Power Plastic®, a material that converts light to energy, today unveiled a line of solar panels for use in a variety of portable charging applications that will be available worldwide in the fourth quarter of this year. Commercial products incorporating Konarka Power Plastic® 20 Series material, which include battery chargers for lighting, mobile phones and devices, carry bags and café umbrellas, will be available through the company’s qualified resellers and partners program.

”As a world leader in organic photovoltaic technology, Konarka has been working to meet the growing demand for personal and commercial solar energy solutions,“ commented Rick Hess, president and CEO at Konarka. ”We are delighted to see manufacturers from new and existing markets integrating our solar panels into their products, creating energy-capturing devices, and making them available for commercial use. Initial product applications will address portable and remote power needs while providing distinctive value to our partners’ solutions.“

The Konarka Power Plastic 20 Series includes the Power Plastic 120 (1-watt), Power Plastic 320 (3-watt) and Power Plastic 620 (7-watt) products. The panels vary in size and are available with and without integrated connectors, ready to be used or integrated into a manufacturer’s device or product.

Availability

These solar panels are being made available for delivery in the fourth quarter of this year. Next year, the company will increase its portfolio with additional products for both higher and lower voltage applications.

The Konarka Power Plastic 20 Series products will be displayed at the 24th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, September 21-24, 2009 at the CCH Congress Centre and International Fair in Hamburg, Germany, Konarka stand # B5/71. For more information on the event, visit: http://www.photovoltaic-conference.com/

About Konarka Technologies, Inc.

All trademarks recognized.

Switzerland takes First Place 2009-2010 Global Competitiveness Report issued by the World Economic Forum

High rankings in this and other FDI decision criteria surveys are among the reasons why Switzerland scored over 49 new or expanded investment projects from North America and an additional 23 stemming from mergers with Swiss firms in 2008.

New York, September 15 -- Switzerland has scored first place in The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010 issued by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum according to Mario Brossi, North American senior representative for Switzerland Trade and Investment Promotion. The alpine nation has switched places with the United States, which held first place since the WEF introduced the survey in its current form in 2004, Mr. Brossi said.

As noted on the WEF's website the survey covers 133 countries with rankings calculated from both publicly available data and the Executive Opinion Survey. The latter is a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the Forum together with its network of partner institutes (leading research institutes and business organizations) in the surveyed countries.

Earlier this year the 2009 World Competitiveness Yearbook published by the Institute for Management Development listed Switzerland as retaining its 4th place ranking globally and 1st in Europe among the world?s 57 most competitive countries.

"Switzerland has traditionally posted high marks in key FDI investment criteria," Mr. Brossi commented, "and these two studies are among the most important. Surveys on softer decision factors such as safety and lifestyle also place Switzerland in a favorable light, including the Mercer Human Resources 2009 Quality of Living Survey of 215 cities, where Zurich, Geneva and Berne are in the top 10."

Mr. Brossi noted that during 2008 Switzerland posted at least 37 new and 12 expanded projects from North America and an additional 76 new projects from other countries around the world. Among some of the significant investors where Blue Coat Systems, Disney Research, Ecolab, Kelly Services, Parker Hannifin, Swarmcast, Alcon, EBay, Microsoft and Yahoo!.

Singapore and Swiss Institutes Collaborate to Boost Microfluidics Technology Development

An outcome of the multi-disciplinary collaboration is the integrated use of microsystem and polymer technologies as well as solutions to realize more powerful and cost effective microfluidic devices for use in biomedical research and strategic industrial applications.

Singapore and Neuchâtel Switzerland: Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), a research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Centre Suisse d’Electronique et de Microtechnique SA (CSEM), Switzerland, to carry out joint research projects and facilitate the exchange of research and scientific staff members to advance the development of microfluidics technology.

Microfluidics technology has been adopted for increasingly diverse use in ink-jet printing, lab-on-a-chip, biomedical research and diagnostics, chemical processing, water monitoring and the harnessing of alternative energy. According to Yole Development (EMMA2007), the potential market size of microfluidics technology in life science alone will be about US$2 billion in 2012. Advances in microfluidics technology are well aligned with Singapore’s long-term R&D thrusts to grow the strategic clean energy, water, environment and biomedical industries.

The three-year collaboration between the institutes of the two countries will build upon the collective and complementary research capabilities in microfluidics technology and microsystem technology of SIMTech and CSEM, respectively. The proposed research collaboration areas will cover microsystem technology, environmental monitoring, microfluidics and lab-on-a-chip developments.

One specific collaborative effort is on the development of a microfluidic platform for environmental quality monitoring to detect impurities and contaminants in water. In this project, CSEM will spearhead the microsystem development and SIMTech will focus on coming up with innovative polymer microfluidics for the manipulation of liquid samples.

Another area for collaboration is on the realisation of an integrated biochip system for disease detection. With CSEM’s extensive expertise in ISFET (ion sensitive field effect transistor) and SIMTech’s polymer microfluidics design and manufacturing experience for sample preparation, a self-contained and fully integrated biochip system will be developed. The system can potentially be used for medical diagnostic applications. The progressive shift from traditional laboratory processes to the portable lab-on-a-chip offers many advantages such as improved performance in speed, reproducibility, reduced cost and reagents consumption, lower contamination and operator error, and the convenience of more parallel and integrated analyses.

”The multi-disciplinary joint collaboration drawing on the strengths of both institutes will accelerate the advancement of microfluidics technology. The accelerated development will enable the clean energy, environment, water and biomedical industries to leverage on the outcomes and achievements for a clear competitive advantage. More importantly, the joint multi-disciplinary microfluidics development offers the industry microfluidics solutions in an integrated platform”, commented Dr Lim Ser Yong, Executive Director, SIMTech.

”SIMTech and CSEM have already worked together for a long time, and it is a great pleasure for us to intensify this collaboration in a field of high strategic value and high commercial interest, especially for all issues concerning microsystems technologies. CSEM and SIMTech together will be able to push the boundaries of the technology in this area,“ said Prof Thomas Hinderling, CEO, CSEM.

The genesis of this collaboration started through the A*STAR Visiting Investigatorship Programme (VIP). Prof Nico de Rooij, the Institute Director of Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Head of Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Lab (SAMLab) and Vice-President, Microsystems Technology, CSEM, was the A*STAR Visiting Investigator for the development of a re-configurable integration platform, encompassing fluidic and electronic components for potential applications in biomedical, chemical analysis, power and drop ejections.

A multi-disciplinary field encompassing engineering, physics, chemistry, microtechnology and biotechnology, microfluidics technology is applied to the design of microsystems to deal with the behaviour, precise control and manipulation of fluids that are geometrically constrained to miniscule amount.

Among A*STAR key achievements in microfluidics technology is SIMTech’s assistance of companies to successfully gain a foothold in the global markets. Examples are the microfluidic devices developed for industrial applications for liquid properties characterisation and performance measurement, for simulation of liquid mix under extreme conditions, and for chemical processing.

About the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)

The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is the lead agency for fostering world-class scientific research and talent for a vibrant knowledge-based Singapore. A*STAR actively nurtures public sector research and development in Biomedical Sciences, and Physical Sciences and Engineering, and supports Singapore's key economic clusters by providing intellectual, human and industrial capital to our partners in industry and the healthcare sector. It oversees 23 research institutes, consortia and centres located in Biopolis and Fusionopolis, and the area in their vicinity, and supports extramural research in the universities, hospitals, research centres, and with other local and international partners. For more information about A*STAR, please visit www.a-star.edu.sg

About Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech)

The Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech) is a research institute of the Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). SIMTech develops high value manufacturing technology and human capital to contribute to the competitiveness of the Singapore industry. It collaborates with multinational and local companies in the precision engineering, electronics, semiconductor, medtech aerospace, automotive, marine, logistics and other sectors. For more information, please visit http://www.SIMTech.a-star.edu.sg

About CSEM – an innovation center

CSEM, Centre Suisse d’ Electronique et de Microtechnique (Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology), founded in 1984, is a private research and development center specializing in microtechnology, nanotechnology, microelectronics, system engineering and communications technologies. It offers its customers and industry partners tailor-made innovative solutions based on its knowledge of the market and technological expertise derived from applied research. Having founded several start-ups, it contributes to developing Switzerland as an industrial location. To date, a total of 29 such enterprises, with more than 500 employees, have been launched by CSEM. In addition, CSEM has acquired an international dimension by establishing a presence in the Arab Emirates in 2005, and in Brazil in 2007, in order to speed up and encourage the transfer of knowledge and new technologies beneficial to the local economy of these countries.

Approximately 400 highly qualified and specialized employees from various scientific and technical disciplines work for CSEM in Neuchâtel, Zurich, Basel, Alpnach and Landquart. They represent more than 30 nationalities and constitute the basis of the company’s creativity, dynamism and innovation potential.

Further information is available at http://www.csem.ch

Science Talk-Show Host Tapped as Press Relations Chair for IEEE Green Technologies Conference

Call for papers from the scientific community now being widely broadcast

Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, Sept. 10, 2009. It was announced today that veteran talk show host Colonel Mason has been appointed the post of Press Relations Chair for the important Green Technologies Conference being produced by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Mason is well known in the scientific community as producer and host of The Promise of Tomorrow science news radio broadcasts which cover topics in emerging technologies, including nanotechnology and Open Innovation.

”This is one of the most important technology conferences being held in Texas during 2010,“ Mason said upon accepting the post, ”and it’s in one of the most spectacular venues in the state. NSTI produced TechConnect in Houston earlier this year, but in 2010 they are back in California, nanoUSA probably won’t return ‘till 2011 at the earliest, and other conferences of a technical nature in Texas for 2010 are still struggling to attract much attention.“

The IEEE Green Technologies Conference will be held at the opulent Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas, April 15 – 16, 2010, http://www.ieeegreentech.org/

”There has never been a better time for the IEEE together with the university research community, Architectural, Engineering, and other technical professionals to weigh in on environmentally friendly alternatives and improvements to our traditional energy economy“ said Ed Safford, Technical Program Chairman of the event. ”Wind farms are springing up almost overnight requiring additional grid infrastructure. Emerging photovoltaic technologies are rapidly approaching cost competitiveness. Sustainable Design in new construction is providing effective alternatives for energy efficiency and Green Building certifications are becoming business discriminators. The IEEE Green Technologies Conference will provide a forum for engineers, professors, architects, technicians, and practitioners to consider all aspects of Green Technologies and their application.“

The conference organizing committee is requesting technical papers, workshops, panels, and tutorial submissions for this opportunity to share ideas, plans, and significant results. Contributed papers are welcome in the following and related topics:

Alternative energy sources for home, business, community

Energy and resource usage, conservation, and efficiency

Innovative Architecture and other Sustainable Designs

Alternative energy choices and effects in product development

Green requirements, specifications, and emerging standards

Environmental, economic, and political impacts of ”Going Green“

Indoor and outdoor environmental use, impacts, and quality

The IEEE Green Technologies Conference 2010 event deadlines are:

Paper Submission: November 2, 2009

Acceptance Notification: December 15, 2009

Camera-Ready Papers: January 4, 2010

Tutorial Submission: January 4, 2010

Workshop Proposals: January 4, 2010

Panel Proposals: January 4, 2010

Submissions should be sent to:

Edward L. Safford

Technical Program Chair

IEEE Green Technologies Conference 2010

E.Safford@ieee.org

About The Promise of Tomorrow radio program:

The award-winning creator and host of the program is veteran news reporter, Colonel Mason, and studies the commercial business of emerging science, open innovation and nanotechnology with a history of keeping abreast of breaking commercial advances. It is aired in Dallas and Fort Worth with a possible audience of over two million, then archived on the Web to an audience that is world-wide, www.PromiseOfTomorrow.biz September 20 the program will begin airing a series on the pros and cons of Global Warming, results of an intense study on climate change. Future reports on the program will bring updates on the important IEEE Green conference as it develops, with speaker interviews, news bulletins, and conference highlights.

The hour long program is a wealth of information each week, also featuring headline news in emerging science, the latest tiny tech jobs, and what has become the very popular Voice of Reason. It is aired each Sunday from 7 to 8 pm on KMNY 1360AM radio www.RationalRadio.org , then promptly archived on the Web where its content is consumed world-wide at www.PromiseOfTomorrow.biz geting 9000 hits per month and growing.

The past 80+ programs featured reports on biodegradable plastics; atomic manipulation and building things with atomic precision for practical uses; medicine; nerve regeneration, human tissue interfacing with bionics; artificial muscles; the fallacy of BioFuels; targeting cancer tumors with nanotechnology and colloidal gold based compounds administered directly at the site of the disease while not affecting other organs; water purification using nanotechnology; how hydrogen is abundant and easy to collect, and (in solid form) the next fuel needed to replace gasoline, jet fuel, and generate electricity; plus views from scientific living legends and Nobel Laureates. Colonel Mason welcomes suggestions on topics and/or guests. Email to colonel@prfirm1.com or contact directly by phone at 214.329.4949

Los Alamos Technology Strikes a Chord with Algal Biofuels

Award-winning acoustic focusing technology will help create ‘green gold’

LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico, September 2, 2009—An award-winning Los Alamos National Laboratory sound-wave technology is helping Solix Biofuels, Inc. optimize production of algae-based fuel in a cost-effective, scalable, and environmentally benign fashion—paving the way to lowering the carbon footprint of biofuel production.

Algae innards contain a high concentration of lipids, or oils. These lipids can be extracted by a relatively simple chemical process and concentrated into ”biocrude“—or ”green gold“—an alternative to crude oil that can be refined into biodiesel, gasoline, or even jet fuel.

Acoustic-focusing—the novel use of sound waves at the heart of the Los Alamos Acoustic Flow Cytometer, a 2007 R&D100 Award-winning technology—is being harnessed and commercialized in partnership with Solix to harvest algae for fuel. The work is part of a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) between the Laboratory and Solix.

In order to turn algae into transportation fuel, the tiny plant-like organisms first must be separated from their watery home and the growth medium used to sustain them. Current methods rely on giant centrifuges to separate liquids from algae solids. Centrifuges take a lot of power to operate, raising production costs and increasing the process’ overall carbon use. Moreover, standard fuel-conversion methods extract lipids from the algae using solvents that are potentially hazardous to humans and the environment, and costly to dispose of.

Thanks to use of Los Alamos’s acoustic-focusing technology, the algae-water-growth-medium mixture is subjected to ultrasonic fields that concentrate the algal cells into a dense sludge. This combined separation and concentration method uses hundreds of times less power than centrifuges. The Lab’s lipid extraction and fractionation technique also avoids the need for costly, hazardous solvents.

Under the CRADA, Los Alamos bioscientist Greg Goddard and Solix’s cofounder and chief technology officer, Bryan Willson—an engineering professor at Colorado State University and founder of the university’s Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory—will develop by year end a working extraction prototype using the licensed acoustic-focusing technology at Solix headquarters in Fort Collins, Colorado. The technology then will be deployed to Solix’s Coyote Gulch Demonstration Facility near Durango, Colorado, for real-world production of lower-cost biofuel.

Los Alamos and Solix’s work in the biofuels arena makes both entities members of the 2009 National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB). The Alliance is a consortium of government, university, and private-sector organizations working to forge the technical foundation for a scalable, responsible, and renewable biofuels industry.

Creation of the Alliance was born of the urgent need to develop renewable and sustainable sources of transportation fuels in a manner that minimizes emissions of ”greenhouse gasses“ such as carbon dioxide, uses a relatively small amount of land, is frugal with energy, and conserves water. The Alliance will develop new technologies and processes to support widespread commercialization of algae-based fuels and useful byproducts.

As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), nearly $50 million in stimulus funds will become available under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy for Algal Biofuels Research and Development. If awarded, the funding from this investment will assist the Alliance and potentially attract and assist new research partners interested in participating.

About Los Alamos National Laboratory (www.lanl.gov )

Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and the Washington Division of URS for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.

Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.

About Solix Biofuels

Solix Biofuels, Inc., based in Fort Collins, Colorado, is an alternative-energy production technology company with emphasis on supplying scalable photobioreactors that will enable the global production of biofuels using microalgae as a feedstock. Solix is an intellectual descendant of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Aquatic Species Program, which started in 1978 to explore ways to produce biodiesel from algae. In early 2006 Solix was founded with the support of Colorado State University with a goal of creating a commercially viable biofuel that will help solve climate change and petroleum scarcity without competing with global food supply. Solix began operations at its Coyote Gulch Demonstration Facility, located on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation, on July 16, 2009. For more information, visit www.solixbiofuels.com

Optical Path Control, Beam Steering & Image Stabilization with Lower Cost Piezo Controller

Auburn, MA, Piezo system specialist PI has extended its E-616 multi-channel controller line for piezo based steering & stabilization mirror platforms. Four open and closed-loop models are now available in bench-top and OEM module versions. The closed-loop units contain two servo controllers, sensor circuit channels and 3 power amplifiers.

Features and Advantages of the E-616 Multi-Axis Controller

n Three Integrated Amplifiers Provide up to 10 W Peak Power

n Closed-Loop and Open-Loop Versions

n Bench-Top and OEM Modules

n Internal Coordinate Transformation Simplifies Control of Parallel Kinematics Designs (Tripod & Differential Drive)

Piezo Steering Mirrors: Why?

Piezo steering mirrors are faster than galvo mirror scanners and provide improved resolution and stability due to their high-stiffness, solid-state piezo drives. They are used to steer or stabilize beams or enhance image resolution. Applications range from optical commumication, astronomy and super-resolution microscopy to nano-lithography.

Tripod and Quadra-Pod Differential Drive Versions

The controllers can drive parallel-kinematics (highest performance mechanics, where all piezo actuators are connected to the same moving platform) steering mirror designs. With the tripod design (for S-325 Z/Tip/Tilt mirrors), the platform is driven by three piezo actuators at 120° spacing. The quadra-pod differential drive design (as used in the S-330, or S-334 mirror models) runs two orthogonal axes with a fixed pivot point based on two pairs of actuators operating in push / pull-mode. The differential evaluation of two sensors per axis improves linearity, stability and resolution.

Internal Coordinate Transformation Simplifies Control

Parallel-kinematics requires the transformation of the commanded tilt angles into the corresponding linear motion of the individual actuators. In the E-616, this is taken care of by an integrated circuit, eliminating the need of additional external hardware or software. Additionally, with the E-616.S0 tripod version, all actuators can be commanded by an offset-voltage simultaneously. As a result, a vertical movement, for example for optical path length tuning, is obtained.

Simple Setup and Operation

To facilitate integration, setup and operation the E-616 features both front and rear panel connections: The 25 pin sub-D piezo & sensor connector is located on the front, along with offset trim pots and LEDs for Power and Overflow. A 32-pin rear connector allows commanding and reading the sensor and amplifier monitor outputs.

About PI

PI is a leading manufacturer of piezo systems, piezo linear motors and precision motion-control equipment for photonics, bio-nanotechnology & semiconductor applications. PI has been developing and manufacturing standard & custom precision products with piezoceramic and electromagnetic drives for 35+ years. The company has been ISO 9001 certified since 1994 and provides innovative, high-quality solutions for OEM and research. PI is present worldwide with eight subsidiaries and total staff of 500+

USA / Canada: http://www.pi-usa.us

East: David Rego

Tel: (508) 832-3456

Fax: (508) 832-0506

Email: info@pi-usa.us

Midwest Joe McGonagle

(815) 793-3776

Email: info@pi-usa.us

West David Steinberg

Tel: (949) 679-9191

Fax: (949) 679-9292

Email: info@pi-usa.us

Europe: http://www.pi.ws

Germany: +49 (721) 4846-0

Italy: +39 (02) 665 011 01

France: +33 (1) 481 039 30

UK: +44 (1582) 764 334

Asia: http://www.pi-japan.jp

http://pi-china.cn

Japan: +81 (6) 6304 5605

China +86 (21) 687 900 08

International location marketing: Canton of Zug joins forces with Greater Zurich Area AG

Zürich/Zug, Switzerland; August 6, 2009 – The Canton of Zug is the latest member of the Greater Zurich Area AG, the Department for Economy of the Canton of Zug and the economic promotion agency Greater Zurich Area AG announced today. Zug is sharing in the worldwide location marketing activities of Greater Zurich Area AG, joining the Swiss Cantons of Aargau, Glarus, Graubünden (Grisons), Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, and Zürich, as well as the cities of Zürich and Winterthur. The membership takes effect retroactively 1st July 2009.

The Swiss Canton of Zug, with its main cities of Zug and Baar, has been an important foreign direct investment destination for many years. Just a little more than half an hour’s drive to the South of the city of Zürich, Zug has managed to attract numerous international headquarters and finance companies. Today the Canton of Zug is as much a hotbed for biotechnology – hosting industry pioneers such as Amgen and Biogen Idec - as for commodity trading companies such as Glencore, Xstrata and Taloca and other high-tech companies such as Siemens Building Technologies and Roche Diagnostics.

The Greater Zurich Area is Switzerland’s economic engine and a central business location for Europe. Its internationally renowned research and education institutes and their close ties to the business community have established the Greater Zurich Area as a location of choice for future-oriented industries from IT and nanotech to life sciences and green/cleantech.

The Greater Zurich Area is a world-renowned financial center and a highly soughtafter location for industries focused on knowledge and value creation. A large number of acclaimed international companies, such as Cisco Systems, Dow, Ecolab, Google, John Deere, IBM, Kraft Foods, Microsoft and Kühne & Nagel, have chosen the Greater Zurich Area as the place to bundle important corporate EMEA and global operations including holding functions, intellectual property management, Finance and Supply Chain Management, and R&D.

Quotes

Willi Meier, CEO of Greater Zurich Area AG: ”I warmly welcome the Canton of Zug to the Greater Zurich Area. Their decision to join forces with the Greater Zurich Area AG is the consequence of already excellent and close relations between neighbors in geography and ideas. Zug’s experience, success and support in international location marketing under the ”Greater Zurich Area“ brand will be greatly beneficial for the entire region and further

strengthen our joint impact abroad.”

Matthias Michel, Minister of Economy of the Canton of Zug: „The region around Zurich has grown much closer together in the last few years - economically and politically. In light of an ever intensifying international competition among the most attractive company locations, bundling international location marketing activities under a common brand is the right thing to do. We will be able to benefit from the Greater Zurich Area AG’s existing

outreach and extensive network abroad, while leveraging our own experience and strength.“

Links

http://www.greaterzuricharea.ch

http://www.zug.ch/behoerden/volkswirtschaftsdirektion/economicpromotion#economy_block_1

Nanostart launches U.S. investor outreach initiative

The initiative will focus primarily on building presence at suitable events and conferences within the U.S. The kick-off was in June, when Nanostart CEO Marco Beckmann presented the company together with Vanessa Mieschke, responsible for investor relations, at the 2009 RedChip Small-Cap Investor Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This marked the company’s first appearance before a broad U.S. investor audience. The conference was heavily attended not only by investors but also by financial journalists and other interested participants from the capital markets.

”The U.S. is one of the key regions for nanotechnology. Nanostart itself has four exciting and highly promising U.S. companies within its investment portfolio. It is therefore only logical that we now also broaden our IR activities within the U.S. market,“ explained Mieschke. ”And the strong interest which we’ve been seeing from U.S. investors shows that we are on the right track.“

RedChip Companies, organizer of the popular annual small-cap conference, offered 15 selected companies the opportunity to present themselves at this year’s event. After the formal presentation, Beckmann and Mieschke spoke individually with various interested investors from the audience. Following the conference, RedChip conducted an in-depth interview with Beckmann which you can view here. You can also watch the conference presentation by clicking here.

The RedChip conference marks just the first step of a concerted and focused effort which Nanostart is launching to reach American investors and to gain recognition in the U.S. capital markets. Participation in more U.S. events is currently being planned.

Source: Nanostart

10th Coatema International Coating Symposium

The 10th International Coating Symposium of Coatema will take place in Dormagen on 30th of September and 1st of October 2009. This time the symposium will be introduced by a drinks reception on 29th of September 2009. 9 international lecturers from industry and research will report on the latest results and developments (subject to modifications)

Dr. Klaus Hecker of OE-A (a working group within VDMA), Germany: „Organic and printed electronics – chances and challenges”

Frank Sarnes of Sarnes Ingenieure OHG, Germany: ”InertCoater – Drying and Sintering in Inert Atmosphere for Sophisticated Applications“

Ike De Vries of TNO Holst Centre, The Netherlands: ”High precision lamination of flexible foils“

Omar Cheema of C-Change LLP, United Kingdom: ”Solar cells 3rd Generation PV“

Dr. Rolf-Dieter Hund of Technische Universität Dresden, Germany: "Technical Textiles"

Andrea Glawe of Coatema Coating Machinery GmbH, Germany and Dr. Roland Wilberger of B. Laufenberg GmbH, Germany: „The right combination of machinery and transfer substrates for prepreg products“

Debbie Thorp of iTi imaging Technology international, United Kingdom: ”Integration of inkjet technology for printed electronics and photovoltaic applications“

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wilhelm Schabel + Philip Scharfer of KIT Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, Germany: „Frontiers in Thin Film Drying” and „Simulation of an industrial belt dryer with regard to the gas phase mass transport”

Dr. Daniel Rudhardt of Bayer MaterialScience AG, Germany: ”Conductive films and structures“

The delivered theory will be put into practice in the company owned R&D center on a surface of 1.200m2. Here, plants with working widths from 250 mm up to 2.000 mm are on hand: 11 pilot plants, 1 production line and Click&Coat concept. Click&Coat-Concept in the Coatema R&D Center Coatema R&D Center on 1.200 m2 - Working widths from 250 to 2.000 mm

The combination of theoretical lectures and practical coating trials will again answer a lot of questions and will give suggestions for the future. Because of the international orientation, the conference will be held in English for the 5th time. It will be the meeting point for basic researchers, process engineers, machine builders, experts in production and product development. Agenda and application form can be downloaded from the website under: www.coatema.de/eng/symposia/next.php

About Coatema: Coatema Coating Machinery GmbH is a mechanical engineering company for coating, laminating and printing plants for R2R applications. Coatema has been delivering for more than 30 years now solutions for the most different markets like textile, foil, paper and renewable energies. These solutions may consist of small lab coating plants, of pilot plants as well as of turn-key production plants for the coating and laminating of roll-to-roll substrates. One of Coatema´s areas, the R&D solutions , deals with the service for coating and laminating like e.g. Coatema´s R&D Center with more than 10 pilot plants and one production plant with 2.000 mm working width. This large range of services is completed by an annual coating symposium, taking place in Dormagen. Another of Coatema´s specialties are customized solutions for the scale-up of new technologies like e.g. fuel cells or nanotechnology.

University of Notre Dame selects Vistec Electron Beam Lithography System for cutting-edge nanotechnology research

Vistec Lithography, Inc. is pleased to announce that the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, has selected Vistec's EBPG5200 system for its cutting-edge nanotechnology research. The new electron beam lithography system will be used for research on new electronic, optoelectronic and magnetic device concepts and associated architectures at Notre Dame's Center for Nano Science and Technology and the Notre Dame Nanofabrication Facility (NDNF).

The Vistec EBPG5200 represents the next development stage of the successful EBPG product series. The system is equipped with a modified platform that supports full exposure of substrates to a maximum size of 200mm. Like the previous EBPG tools, it can be used to expose fragments and special substrates, in addition to standard substrate types and sizes. Essential design principles of the previous EBPG systems have been incorporated into

this new 200mm platform.

"We are continuing to push the performance limits of transistors and other devices, and we are exploring new physical mechanisms for computation to overcome the limits of scaling of conventional transistors," said Patrick Fay, NDNF director. "To address the needs of our research goals, we were looking for a high-performance nanolithography system. The Vistec system addresses a number of new application areas and provides high-quality

lithography performance, flexibility and ease of operation. It matched up best with our research needs."

"The co-operation with leading-edge research institutes such as the University of Notre Dame is very important for Vistec. Based on our long-standing business in that market, we take advantage of our customer base to continuously enhance our products. Our goal is to adapt them to better serve the diverse and ever-increasing nanotechnology requirements in research and development", noted Rainer Schmid, General Manager Vistec Lithography, Inc. "We are very pleased to count University of Notre Dame among our customers."

About University of Notre Dame

University of Notre Dame - Center for Nano Science and Technology The Center for Nano Science and Technology at the University of Notre Dame explores new device concepts and associated architectures that are enabled by novel phenomena on the nanometer scale and serves as a catalyst for multidisciplinary research and education in nanoelectronics, molecular electronics nano-bio and bio-fluid microstructures, circuits and architectures. It also facilitates collaborations among faculty across the University as well as with researchers in the academy, industry and government.

Vistec Electron Beam Lithography Group

Vistec Lithography

Vistec Electron Beam

company is located in Jena (Germany).

Prof. Alex Matter becomes member of the Board of Directors of Nanostart holding Curiox Biosystems

Scientist of international reputation

Former Head of Oncology Research at Novartis

”Curiox establishes itself“

Frankfurt / Singapore – July 27, 2009 – Prof. Dr. Alex Matter has joined the Board of Directors of Singaporean Nanostart holding Curiox Biosystems. Dr. Matter is best known for his contribution to the development of Glivec/Gleevec®, one of the world’s first tyrosine kinase inhibitor drugs against chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Starting in the mid-eighties, Dr. Matter led a team of close to 200 scientists at Novartis to discover and optimize the lead compound and brought it all the way through its first clinical trial in 1998. In a short span of 3 years, Glivec/Gleevec® was given a very rare, fast track FDA approval in 2001.

He was the founding director of the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases and is Chief Executive Officer of the Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC), both located in Singapore. During his long career in the pharmaceutical industry Dr. Matter has held several positions of responsibility such as Head of Pharmaceutical Research at Hoffman-LaRoche, Head of Cancer and Viral Research at CIBA-GEIGY and more recently Global Head of Oncology Research, at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Dr. Alex Matter, received his medical degree from the University of Basel. He has authored over 100 scientific articles and book chapters in the areas of oncology and hematology. He is the recipient of the 13th Warren-Alpert prize in 2000 and the AACR-Bruce F. Cain Memorial Award.

Matter comments his service in the Board of Directors of Curiox: "I am looking forward to work with Curiox which pursues innovative, cutting-edge technologies in the field of high throughput screening and establishes itself in a rapidly growing hightech market segment."

Namyong Kim, CEO of Curiox, believes that Matter´s huge experience and network will assure the success of new DropArray™ products that are going to be launched in the next few months for the pharmaceutical and biotech market. Kim says: ”The ready acceptance of the invitation by Dr. Matter in joining the Board shows the strength and promise of Curiox's unique DropArray™ technology in innovating the ways of preclinical drug discovery are performed. I look forward to working with him in building Curiox into one of major bioinstrumentation companies.“

About Nanostart:

About Curiox Biosystems Pte. Ltd.

Curiox Biosystems has a vision to accelerate the progress of life sciences and drug discovery through better miniaturization. Curiox is a bioinstrumentation company enabling the miniaturization of heterogeneous bioassay for researchers working in life sciences, drug discovery, and diagnostics. Curiox’s patented miniaturization platform, DropArray™, provides up to 1,000 times savings in sample and reagent consumption, and up to 10 times reduction in assay time. The company is located at Biopolis in Singapore, the biomedical hub of Singapore and Southeast Asia. The company is a spin-off from Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) backed primarily by Nanostart and Exploit Technologies, the commercializing arm of Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). For further information, please visit www.curiox.com.

Disclaimer:

Miniature Piezo Motor Demo Kit available on PI Online-Store

Auburn, MA, July 2009 – PI’s patented P-653 piezo motor linear slide is significantly smaller than other miniature linear stages and provides significantly higher velocities and resolution.

A developer’s kit can now be ordered from PI-USA’s Piezo Basics Online Store at http://store.pi-usa.us/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=P-653.01D

Features & Advantages of the Ceramic Miniature Motors

n Developer’s Kit Plugs into USB Port, comes with Control Software

n True Linear Motor Slide / No Rotary Conversion Losses

n Fast: Velocity up to 200 mm/s, Millisecond Responsiveness

n Self Locking; Smaller, Faster, Fewer Components than Conventional Motors

n Travel Range 2 mm, Force Generation to 0.15 N

n Cost-Effective OEM Drive for High Quantity-Applications

n Preassembled and Mounted on a PCB Board

n Very Compact: Piezomotor Drive is Only 8 mm Long

This true linear motor system (no conversion of rotation) consists of only 4 parts and can replace classical drive elements like miniaturized motor/lead screw systems or other linear motors, which P-653 outclasses with its speed of up to 200 mm/sec (8“/sec) and auto-locking feature.

Datasheet: http://www.physikinstrumente.com/en/pdf/P653_Datasheet.pdf

Easy Integration

Integration of the P-653 is simple because the moving slider and the piezo motor are delivered assembled as a unit on a PCB driver board running on 5 VDC.

Typical OEM Applications / Scalability

P-653-series PILine® ultrasonic motors are ideal for OEM applications where quantities are high and space is at a premium. The systems were optimized for moving small objects such as optical fibers, micro-optics, or micro-electro-mechanical elements fast and precisely. These non-magnetic ceramic motors (no lubricants!) can also be used in medical applications. Larger motors are also available, the ultrasonic principle is scalable.

Simple Control

Motion is controlled by TTL voltage pulses applied to the driver electronics. The self adjusting driver creates the high-frequency, nanometer level oscillations (~500 kHz) that make the ultrasonic ceramic motor move.

Working Principle of PILine® Piezo Ceramic Linear Motors

PILine® linear piezomotors are based on a, patented ultrasonic drive. At the heart of the system is a rectangular monolithic piezoceramic plate (the stator), segmented on one side by two electrodes. Depending on the desired direction of motion, the left or right electrode of the piezoceramic plate is excited to produce high-frequency eigenmode oscillations of hundreds of kilohertz. PILine® motors are vacuum compatible, non-magnetic and self-locking.

USA / Canada:

Email: info@pi-usa.us

East: David Rego

Tel: (508) 832-3456

Fax: (508) 832-0506

Midwest Joe McGonagle

(815) 793-3776

West David Steinberg

Tel: (949) 679-9191

Fax: (949) 679-9292

Europe:

Germany: +49 (721) 4846-0

Italy: +39 (02) 665 011 01

France: +33 (1) 481 039 30

UK: +44 (1582) 764 334

Asia

Japan: +81 (6) 6304 5605

China +86 (21) 687 900 08

About PI

PI is a leading manufacturer of precision motion-control equipment for photonics, bio-nanotechnology & semiconductor applications. PI has been developing and manufacturing standard & custom precision products with piezoceramic and electromagnetic drives for 35+ years. The company has been ISO 9001 certified since 1994 and provides innovative, high-quality solutions for OEM and research. PI is present worldwide with eight subsidiaries and total staff of 500+.

The Nanosurf® EasyScan 2 FlexAFM

Liquid ready AFM for the life sciences

The easyScan 2 Flex AFM brings a new dimension to the easyScan line of SPMs. The Flex scan head expands the capabilities of the easyScan systems - adding new operational modes as well as liquid imaging, even while maintaining the easyScan's ease of use. When switching from air to liquid, laser and detector alignment is still not necessary.

The FlexAFM's flexure-based electromagnetic scanner allows metrology like applications in air or liquid. The scanner is linear, flat, and fast. With Nanosurf's SureAlign patented technology, laser alignment is never needed - even when switching between ambient and liquid environments. For more information visit:

http://www.nanoscience.com/products/easyScan2/FlexAFM/index.html

Lux Research's Solar State of the Market Webinar: The Slow Dawn of Grid Parity

Join us for a Webinar on August 11

Space is limited.

Reserve your Webinar seat now at:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/565620634

As the market for solar technologies has grown larger and more sophisticated, it has come into competition with traditional electricity generation sources, such as natural gas. In order to compare apples to apples, the solar market is being forced to grow up and shift the metric of merit to generation cost ($/kWh) rather than capital cost ($/W) of a solar system, which has been the metric of choice for decades. By examining the derivation of the generation cost, otherwise known as the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), as well as the resulting internal rate of return (IRR) for investors in solar projects, this webinar will address these questions and more:

• What are the key inputs in the LCOE and IRR calculation?

• How do LCOE and IRR change according to geography, technology, and application?

• What types of projects are poised to reach unsubsidized ”grid parity“ the soonest?

• Which technologies are best positioned to reach unsubsidized ”grid parity“ soonest?

• What types of projects are the most profitable for investors?

• How will these answers affect the behavior of utilities, politicians, and vendors?

Title: Lux Research's Solar State of the Market Webinar: The Slow Dawn of Grid Parity

Date: Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EDT

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements

PC-based attendees

Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Macintosh®-based attendees

Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer

Intel Delivers Industry's First 34-Nanometer NAND Flash Solid-State Drives; Advancement Lowers Prices by Up to 60 Percent

SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 21, 2009 – Intel Corporation is moving to a more advanced, 34- nanometer (nm) manufacturing process for its leading NAND flash-based Solid State Drive (SSD) products, which are an alternative to a computer's hard drive. The move to 34nm will help lower prices of the SSDs up to 60 percent for PC and laptop makers and consumers who buy them due to the reduced die size and advanced engineering design.

The multi-level cell (MLC) Intel® X25-M Mainstream SATA SSD is aimed at laptop and desktop PCs and available in 80 Gigabyte (GB) and 160GB versions. SSDs are data storage devices found inside computers. Because SSDs have no moving parts they offer faster performance and greater energy efficiency and durability than traditional hard disk drives (HDDs). A draw for gamers, media creators and technology enthusiasts, SSDs have also played a key role in the emergence of ultra-thin and light notebook PCs that are becoming increasingly popular due to their design, size and longer battery life.

"Our goal was to not only be first to achieve 34nm NAND flash memory lithography, but to do so with the same or better performance than our 50nm version," said Randy Wilhelm, Intel vice president and general manager, Intel NAND Solutions Group. "We made quite an impact with our breakthrough SSDs last year, and by delivering the same or even better performance with today's new products, our customers, both consumers and manufacturers, can now enjoy them at a fraction of the cost."

The Intel X25-M on 34nm flash memory is drop-in compatible with the current 50nm version and will continue to be drop-in compatible to replace existing hard disk drives (HDDs).

Compared to its previous 50nm version, the new Intel X25-M offers improved latency and faster random write Input/Output Operations Per Second (IOPS). Specifically, Intel's new SSD provides a 25 percent reduction in latency, for quicker access to data, operating at 65-microsecond latency compared to approximately 4,000 microseconds for an HDD.

Random write performance increases twofold, further separating the X25-M from other competing SSDs. By delivering up to 6,600 4KB write IOPS and up to 35,000 read IOPS, the X25-M continues to set the bar for SSDs, while leapfrogging HDDs which only operate at several hundred IOPS. This provides for markedly faster system and application responsiveness. These improvements in latency and IOPS not only benefit desktop and notebook users, but also server and workstation users, as they utilize Intel's cost-effective, yet performance-oriented, MLC SSDs for enterprise computing.

New channel prices for the X25-M 80GB are $225 for quantities up to 1,000 units (a 60 percent reduction from the original introduction price of $595 a year ago). The 160GB version is $440 (down from $945 at introduction) for quantities up to 1,000 units. The X25-M comes in a standard 2.5-inch form factor. The X18-M, in a 1.8-inch form factor, will begin shipping on 34nm later in the quarter.

Drop-in compatible with SATA-based HDDs and all operating systems, the X25-M will also support Microsoft Windows 7 when it becomes available. At that time, Intel plans to deliver a firmware update to allow support of the Windows 7 Trim command, along with an end user tool, to allow users to optimize the performance of their SSD on Windows XP and Vista operating systems.

For further information on Intel's High Performance line of solid-state drives, including the Intel X25-M Mainstream and the Intel® X25-E Extreme SATA SSD targeted for server, workstation and enterprise storage applications, visit www.intel.com/go/ssd

Intel is a trademark of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

Edwards Lifesciences Expands in Switzerland with

New Regional Headquarters and Physicians Training Center

NEW YORK, July 15 - Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE: EW), a leader in the science of heart valves and hemodynamic monitoring, has opened an expanded EMEA headquarters in Switzerland, reports Mario Brossi, North American senior advisor for Switzerland Trade and Investment Promotion.

The CHF 25 million (US $22.97 million) 4281 m2 (46,080 ft2) facility relocated from nearby St-Prex to Nyon and includes a physicians training center, Mr. Brossi said. He added that Edwards Lifesciences also has a facility in Horw near Lucerne that is one of its three global sites for manufacturing tissue heart valves.

Patrick B. Verguet, Edwards' corporate vice president, Europe, Middle East and Africa said ?We constructed our own new headquarters facility in Nyon to accommodate our significant regional growth in heart valves and critical care while allowing us to continue benefiting from Switzerland?s favorable business climate.? Other reasons cited for expanding in Switzerland include political stability, an organized and reliable infrastructure, a high level of ethics, a place in which to attract and retain great talent and convenient access to the EMEA region.

?We look forward to expanding our commitment to our training and education programs by welcoming physicians and healthcare professionals to our state-of-the-art training facility,? Mr. Verguet said. ?It provides resources for physicians to educate their peers on new technologies and techniques that have the potential to drive better outcomes and lower costs.?

In addition to an advanced training center, the Edwards facility features an upgraded environment for more than 100 employees in large work spaces, a 74-seat auditorium, a fitness center, and healthy food options in the on-site café.

Switzerland Launches Greentech Initiative

Supporting Sustainable Products and Services

New York, July 13 - Switzerland Trade and Investment Promotion USA (STIP) launched a new program on July 10 promoting green technologies from Switzerland for the United States under the brand Swiss Greentech. The initiative was announced at the 'Green Tech in a Global Marketplace' seminar in San Francisco organized by STIP and swissnex.

Federal Councilor Doris Leuthard, Vice President of the Swiss Confederation and Head of Switzerland's Federal Department of Economic Affairs, who opened the seminar, remarked that Switzerland wants to become stronger in the promotion of green technologies in the US and worldwide.

Swiss Greentech Initiatives

Green technology in Switzerland has a long history supported by the country's strong research institutes and technology companies. In 2008 the government demonstrated its commitment by launching an action plan for renewable energy, the objective of which is to increase its contribution to 24% of total consumption by 2020, from 16.2% today. This year, the government launched additional long-term policies and strategies concerning renewable energy tapping solar, hydraulic, wind, and biomass resources.

According to Martin von Walterskirchen of STIP, there are 538 hydroelectric power plants in Switzerland generating 57% of the country's domestic electricity production, and 30 wind plants generating 14 gigawatt hours of energy. Solar energy also generates about half a percent of the country's total power production.

A recent study indicates that Swiss green technology has already created 61,000 full time jobs - almost 2% of total employment - and contributes 1.6% to the Swiss GDP.

Solar Projects in Switzerland

Of the many greentech innovations originating in Switzerland, perhaps best known is explorer Bertrand Piccard?s Solar Impulse project aimed at an around-the-world-flight powered by the sun starting in 2010. Through research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), complex issues of flight using only renewable energy and without creating pollutants will be solved.

Other notable ventures include the Solar Islands project at the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM), which calls for the creation of land- or sea-based large circular solar panel islands that rotate to follow the sun, creating electricity and hydrogen, and Louis Palmer?s Solartaxi which made an around-the-world tour in December 2008.

Cross Border Interest

Space Energy Group, a US-based company with plans to commercialize space-based solar power (SBSP), recently opened its international headquarters in the Swiss canton of Schaffhausen. The company plans to use proven concepts to develop geosynchronous orbit satellites that will operate as space solar energy collectors and transmitters.

NEW AFP-200 Product Launch by Ambios Technology

Combined Benefits of Stylus-Optical and AFM Profiling

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - July 14, 2009: At Semicon West, the semiconductor industry's largest and most influential trade show, Ambios Technology, Inc. introduced its newest instrument for characterization of surface morphology at the nanoscale. The new AFP-200 is a unique high-resolution surface measurement and analysis system that combines the ease of use of a stylus and optical profiler with the precision and resolution of a scanning probe microscope. This exclusive combination allows measurement of features with fields of view from tens of nanometers to tens of millimeters while maintaining atomic scale Z-resolution.

The AFM permits atomic scale resolution over fields of view from 10's of nanometers to 80 microns in X and Y. While the interferometer operates like a traditional optical microscope with nanometer resolution in Z over fields of view from 100 X 100 microns to 2.0 X 2.0 millimeters. The stylus profilometer can operate in single line scan mode like traditional stylus profilometers, and in ultrahigh resolution mode using the PZT scanning mechanism of the AFM to produce extremely high resolution images over relatively long scan lengths.

Patrick O'Hara, President and CEO commented that, "Although none of these instruments are particularly new by themselves; the integration into a single instrument provides our customers tremendous breadth of measurement. With this single instrument, our customers can bring a host of measurements to bear to characterize small and intricate surfaces. The new AFP-200 allows customers to use a variety of techniques to be sure they get the right answers."

Inquire about the new AFP-200 here

Ambios Technology, Inc. is a manufacturer of high resolution surface measurement and visualization systems. In addition to surface profilometers, the company manufactures scanning white light interferometers and (AFM/SPM) scanning probe microscopes. A privately held company, Ambios Technology, is headquartered in Santa Cruz, CA with sales, service, and support offices in Rochester, NY and Cambridge, England.

ENERGY’S THIRST FOR WATER CHALLENGES CARBON DEBATE

Water usage will influence the business of future energy production

as much as carbon output, according to Lux Research

The immediate need to reduce carbon emissions has dominated public debate around clean energy production. But the singular focus on carbon has distracted from energy’s growing impact on the planet’s dwindling water sources, according to the latest report from Lux Research.

The report, titled ”Global Energy: Unshackling Carbon from Water,“ observes that while new energy sources and extraction methods may reduce carbon intensity – kilograms of CO2 emitted per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of useful energy – they often impose increased water usage.

”On a planet where only 0.008% of the water is renewable, such trade-offs will become an increasingly important consideration for executives and policymakers,“ said Michael LoCascio, a Senior Analyst at Lux Research, and the report’s lead author. ”Fortunately, many of the technologies and approaches needed to reduce water intensity are here today, or on the horizon.“

Lux Research’s report provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of how all the major conventional and alternative fuel and electricity sources balance their CO2 and water intensity, as well as other important factors like cost and scalability. It also rigorously analyzes how alternative energy sources, improved extraction and efficiency, water recycling technologies, and improved energy distribution could help increase the environmental and economic viability for given energy technologies. The report finds that:

• Coal and natural gas electricity sources will continue to dominate in the near term. But expect to see more retrofits and upgrades of existing facilities to make them more water and/or energy efficient. Representative solutions include boiler water treatments, like electrocoagulation, advanced ion exchange and membrane electrolysis, as well as dry condensers and cooling tower water recapture.

• Conventional fossil fuels remain leaders for the next few decades, but expect new extraction technologies. Exploitation of oil sands and improved deep sea extraction will continue to make oil the cheapest, if dirtiest source of energy for automotive drivetrains. But water recycling technologies like desalination and hydrocarbon recovery could reduce the water- and carbon-intensity of oil extraction from new sources like the tar sands.

• Alternative energy sources will grow rapidly, but remain limited overall. The slow roll-out of transcontinental high-voltage DC transmission lines will hinder low-carbon, low-water energy sources like solar and wind. Biofuels use far too much water and are capable of providing too little energy to make up more than a few percent of global needs.

• The future may belong to advanced nuclear electricity. Nuclear is the only low-carbon, low-cost energy source that can reliably meet future electricity needs – but water is its Achilles’ heel. However, advanced designs promise to increase efficiency and reduce water intensity, while placing plants on the coasts decouples them from increasingly scarce fresh water sources.

”Without a clear perspective on the trade-offs between carbon, water and other factors that this report covers, executives risk making short-sighted business decisions,“ said LoCascio. ”Particularly if they are expanding into global economies like India or China where water is a comparatively rare resource.“

”Global Energy: Unshackling Carbon from Water“ is part of the Lux Water Intelligence service. Clients subscribing to this service receive ongoing research on water industry market trends and forecasts, continuous technology scouting reports and proprietary data points in the weekly Lux Research Water Journal, and on-demand inquiry with Lux Research analysts.

About Lux Research

QD Soleil, subsidiary of Nanostart-held Nanosys,

expands leadership team with world-class nanotechnology leaders

New appointments bring together far reaching expertise in the use of nanotechnology for solar applications

Expanded leadership and advisory team will drive forward with commercialization of new solutions for solar industry

Frankfurt / Palo Alto, Calif. – June 30, 2009 – QD Soleil™, a division of Nanostart held Nanosys, Inc., announced the expansion of its leadership and advisory team including the addition of four exceptional thought leaders in the use of nanotechnology for solar energy applications. Among these additions is Dr. J. Wallace Parce, who will serve as the chief technology officer (CTO) of QD Soleil. Dr. Parce was formerly the CTO of Nanosys where he led commercialization programs including the development of nanocrystal technology for integration into solar cells. Prior to Nanosys, Dr. Parce co-founded and led research for several technology companies including Life Sciences and Molecular Devices.

”I am joining the leadership team of QD Soleil at a critical growth period for the application of nanotechnology for solar energy collection,“ said Dr. Parce. ”QD Soleil is a natural extension of the technical programs that I led at Nanosys, and I look forward to furthering the commercialization of this technology at QD Soleil.“

In addition to Dr. Parce, QD Soleil added three advisory board members:

Dr. Avery Goldstein, one of the leading minds in nanotechnology since the beginnings of the field with expertise in thin film manufacturing using roll-to-roll processing and nanoparticle inks

Dr. Delia Milliron, a Lawerence Berkeley National Labs scientist working on nanoparticle and quantum dot technology for use in solar energy applications

Dr. Xiangfeng Duan, a well regarded leader in nanowire technology for a broad range of applications including solar devices. Dr. Duan was a scientific cofounder of Nanosys and is currently an assistant professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

”This world-class team of nanotechnology thought leaders will bring formidable leadership and insight to bear on the commercialization of QD Soleil solutions,“ said Vijendra Sahi, vice president and general manager of QD Soleil. ”The team’s expertise in all areas of nanotech solar applications will allow us to respond rapidly with solutions that meet the evolving manufacturing needs of the solar industry.“

About Nanostart:

About QD Soleil

QD Soleil is a division of Nanosys Inc. focused on the use of proprietary nanotechnology in solar panel cell designs. QD Soleil controls a seminal intellectual property estate that includes over 500 patents and patent applications. The technology has been refined over many years by Nanosys and exploits best in class inorganic material compositions, processing and integration chemistries, and includes the most stable nanomaterial formulations known in the field. Applications of the technology and intellectual property are broad and include additive enhancement layers for light conversion engineering, nano-particle inks, light waveguide concentrators and nanomaterial composites for enhancing overall solar cell efficiency.

For more information about QD Soleil, visit www.qdsoleil.com.

About Nanosys, Inc.

Nanosys, Inc. is a leader in the development of nanotechnology enabled products utilizing high performance inorganic nanostructures. Nanosys has built one of the broadest technology platforms in the industry with over 650 patents and patent applications covering fundamental areas of nanotechnology. Based in Palo Alto, California and privately held, Nanosys collaborates with industry leaders to develop revolutionary high-value, high-performance products for the life sciences, computing, lighting, renewable energy, and defense industries. Additional information on Nanosys can be found at www.nanosysinc.com.

Disclaimer:

IBM and ETH Zurich lay foundation stone for new nanotechnology lab

The nanotechnology partnership signed between IBM and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich 2008 is taking shape: On June 2nd, the IT giant joined the university in laying the foundation stone for their shared nanotechnology research center on the IBM premises in Rüschlikon near Zurich.

Dr. Matthias Kaiserswerth, director of the IBM Zurich Research Labroratory, said: «Due to the availability of outstanding academic institutions and specialized as well as strong industries Switzerland is an ideal location for this type of collaboration».

ETH Zurich president Ralph Eichler, noted: «This lab represents a great gain not only for the institutes involved, but for Swiss industry as a whole.» The new collaboration has already recruited its first external partner: the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Testing Materials and Research (EMPA). This sort of close cooperation between industry and science facilitates the development of new production technologies.

At the heart of the partnership between IBM and ETH Zurich lies the new nanotechnology lab, which will occupy a total area of around 6000m2 (652,000 sq ft) on the IBM grounds in Rueschlikon. 900m2 of this will be devoted to labs, which in turn are divided into three areas: shared area (400m2), IBM lab (268m2) and ETH lab (258m2). The research lab is scheduled to go operational in 2011.

www.zurich.ibm.com

ConvaTec Establishes European Supply Chain Hub in Switzerland

NEW YORK, June 24 - Medical technologies developer ConvaTec, based in Skillman, NJ, will establish new facilities in Switzerland to oversee its extensive European supply chain operations, reports Mario Brossi, North American senior advisor for Switzerland Trade and Investment Promotion. Operations in Schaffhausen are expected to begin this fall and expand to full capacity in 2010 Mr. Brossi said.

ConvaTec Senior Vice President of Global Manufacturing and Supply Chain Cheryl Capps said that the Schaffhausen logistics and supply chain hub will consolidate the management of European distribution, order to cash, procurement and related market services. She noted that the company anticipates staffing will grow to more than 40 when the new facility is fully operational.

"ConvaTec looks forward to becoming a corporate citizen of Schaffhausen," Ms. Capps said. "Selection criteria included its central location, well educated and multi-lingual labor pool, competitive operating costs and high quality of life."

Mr. Brossi noted that since Roman times Switzerland has served as the commercial crossroads of Europe and today supports that role with an extensive rail, highway, air and waterways network. "This physical infrastructure, a business-friendly government and realistic tax regime is augmented by a wide range of international logistics companies," he said. "Together these resources make the country an ideal base for a European logistics and supply chain management center."

A copy of 'Switzerland, Your European Supply Chain Management and Logistics Center' can be downloaded from the publications page at www.locationswitzerland.com

e-Xstream engineering is pleased to announce the release of DIGIMAT 3.2.2

Mean-Field homogenization software used for accurate and efficient prediction of the nonlinear behavior of multi-phase materials.

DIGIMAT’s strongly coupled interfaces to injection molding and structural FEA software to enable seamless nonlinear multi-scale analyses.

THE MAIN HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS RELEASE ARE:

New Capabilities in Digimat to CAE:

- DMP parallelization of the Digimat to LS-DYNA under Windows CCS 2003;

- DMP parallelization of Digimat to ANSYS under Linux 64 bit compute server;

- Support of ANSYS-DYNA licensing in the Digimat to LS-DYNA under Windows;

- 1st release of Digimat to ANSYS Workbench

+ Many other improvements and bug fixes.

For more information, please download the release notes.

EYES ON DIGIMAT USERS’ MEETING (October 21-23, Nice, France):

http://www.e-xstream.com/en/digimat-users-meeting-2009/

WORLD’S FIRST CARBON NANOTUBE SURFBOARD

Enlight Earth LLC and Eric Arakawa Designs bring you the world’s first carbon nanotube surfboard. This board was hand shaped and uses single wall carbon nanotube infused Epoxy making it one of the strongest and lightest surfboards in the world.

Nano technology is definitly the wave of the future, the best phrase to describe the amazing abilities of NANO is ”Surface Area“. These particles are soo small that they have many times the surface area of regular particles, being that surface area is far greater it allows for a lot more electro-chemical reaction, which can make a small wrist watch battery have the power of multiple 9 volt batteries and a bonding area which can be used to fill in the gaps for amazing structural strength. A quick comparison of the tensile strenght of different materials will show that Nano materials far exceed the strength of anything known to man…

Structural strength examples;

Aluminum alloy Strength (Mpa) 600

Steel Strength (Mpa) 2,000

Silicone Carbide Strength (Mpa) 3,440

Carbon Fiber (AS4) Strength (Mpa) 4,300

Carbon Nanotube Strength (Mpa) 62,000

http://www.enlightearth.com

http://www.ericarakawasurfboards.com/

Lux Research Nanomaterials State of the Market Webinar:

The Recession’s Ripple Effect on Nanotech

Join us for a Webinar on July 14

Space is limited.

Reserve your Webinar seat now at:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/133595946

The economic downturn has hit key nano-enabled product segments hard: in particular, auto, construction, and electronics. Lower output and slower technology adoption in these industries will ripple up the value chain to nanointermediates and nanomaterials, leading to total revenue from products incorporating nanotechnology of $2.5 trillion in 2015 – down 21% from our previous projections. The changes will put large corporations in the driver’s seat, force start-ups to break even or bust, and demand creative action from governments. Join Lux Research as we present our findings, with this webinar addressing these questions and more:

• What are the market projections across the value chain through 2015

• Which market sectors fare better during the economic downturn

• Which nanomaterials and nanointermediates are impacted the most

• Which start-ups land in the dominant category on the Lux Innovation Grid (LIG), making for safe bets

• What strategies should large corporations, start-ups, and governments employ

Title: Lux Research Nanomaterials State of the Market Webinar: The Recession’s Ripple Effect on Nanotech

Date: Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EDT

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements

PC-based attendees

Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Macintosh®-based attendees

Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer

QD Soleil, subsidiary of Nanostart-held Nanosys,

wins patent protection

U.S. Patent Office allows patent claims on nanostructured-based solar concentrators

Quantum dot technology from QD Soleil combines efficiency, technical superiority and low price

Major benefits for solar system producers

Frankfurt / Palo Alto, Calif. – June 25, 2009 – QD Soleil™, a division of Nanosys, Inc., announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has allowed the company patent claims based on the use of nanostructures for solar concentrators. Solar concentrators magnify the sun’s rays on a small area of highly efficient solar cells. Such concentrators can dramatically reduce the cost of solar energy systems because the active solar cells can be made much smaller and thinner.

Concentrator technology can be used in traditional utility-scale solar farms in addition to novel window glass applications, where the window tinting can be used to generate electricity by integrating a PV cell at the glass edge. QD Soleil uses its quantum dot technology to efficiently capture and concentrate light in a very narrow band at the edge of the glass. The properties of quantum dots make them particularly well suited and superior to other approaches for light concentration, such as organic dyes which have short lifetimes.

”We feel strongly that these new nano-enabled light concentrator systems will allow U.S. companies to replace large areas of expensive crystalline solar cells with cost-advantaged metal and plastic concentrator systems and efficient small-area solar cells,“ said Vijendra Sahi, vice president and general manager of QD Soleil. ”Our quantum dot technology and strong IP position provide a winning advantage for companies that want to establish a leadership position with these new enabling solar applications.“

About Nanostart:

About QD Soleil

For more information about QD Soleil, visit www.qdsoleil.com.

About Nanosys, Inc.

Disclaimer:

Nanion and Axiogenesis present parallel patch clamp recordings of action potentials from Cor.At cardiomyocytes

Munich, Germany, June 23, 2009; Stem cell derived cardiomyocytes were analyzed using Nanion's automated patch clamp systems, the Patchliner and the Port-a-Patch to validate ion channel composition, the presence of action potentials and the effect of compounds on cardiac channels.

Stem cell derived cardiomyocytes have tremendous potential for cardiac safety testing of drug candidates. By offering an authentic cellular environment they are closer to the actual physiological situation compared to cell lines with over-expressed ion channels. Axiogenesis is a provider of pure mouse embryonic stem (ES) cell derived cardiomyocytes (Cor.At®), which now have been evaluated with Nanion's automated patch clamp platforms, the Port-a-Patch and the Patchliner. Expected currents were obtained (K, Ca, Na) under voltage clamp conditions, as well as action potentials recorded in current clamp mode. Effects on action potentials of compounds with known effect on cardiac channels were successfully investigated using Nanion's platforms.

Ralf Kettenhofen, Senior Scientist at Axiogenesis, Cologne, Germany, says:

"Nanion's enabling products allow for a wide range of experiments including current clamp recordings of action potentials from our Cor.At® cardiomyocytes. The possibility for not only high quality voltage clamp recordings, but also action potentials is a truly unique feature. Such recordings reflect the total effect of drug action on the cardiac ion channel ensemble rather than effects on individual ion channel species. This is important for investigations of compounds exhibiting chronotropic or arrhythmic effects by either direct action on ion channels or humoral regulation of eg. G-protein coupled receptor agonists."

Niels Fertig, CEO of Nanion Technologies continues:

"The Cor.At® ES cell derived cardiomyocytes in combination with voltage and current clamp recordings provide physiologically relevant information about cardiac drug safety. Our automated patch clamp platforms are known for their flexibility and versatility, which is reflected by the combined voltage- and current clamp measurements used in this study."

The Patchliner and the Port-a-Patch also support temperature control which will be used in further studies of the Cor.At® mouse ES cell derived cardiomyocytes. The Port-a-Patch and the Patchliner are the only automated patch clamp platforms on the market supporting current clamp recordings.

Axiogenesis will present more information about the obtained results at the Ion Channel Retreat Meeting in Vancouver, Canada, June 29th - July 1st.

About Nanion:

Nanion Technologies GmbH is a German Private Limited Company and was founded in 2002 as a spin-off from the Center for Nanoscience (CeNS) of the University of Munich . Nanion?s team has developed and globally established two highly successful automated patch clamp instruments (Port-a-Patch and Patchliner) as enabling tools for sophisticated and high throughput applications in ion channel research and drug discovery. This year Nanion is introducing their its system, the SyncroPatch 96, a high quality, HTS patch clamp platform.

Nanion's instruments use planar patch clamp chips which replace the traditional glass pipette used in the technique of patch clamping. Nanion was nominated in 2007 for Germany 's most prestigious innovation award the Deutscher Zukunftspreis (German Future Prize, Federal President's Award for Technology and Innovation).

Contact details:

Niels Fertig , CEO, Phone: +49 89 2189 97972, Email: info@nanion.de, Web: www.nanion.de

About Axiogenesis

Axiogenesis is an innovative and productive biotechnology company located in Cologne, Germany. It was founded in 2000 and was listed on the German stock exchange in 2007. The primary focus of Axiogenesis is the generation and production of pure in vitro differentiated cells that display normal physiological properties. Axiogenesis can either use murine embryonic stem cells (mESC) or human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) as a source. These cells are then used to develop novel assays for pharmacology and safety screening in the pharmaceutical, chemical, and cosmetics industries.

Pure mouse ES-derived cardiomyocytes (CorAt®) are available in unlimited amounts, can be shipped frozen overnight, and are quality controlled showing no lot-to-lot variation. Protocols and applications include but are not limited to cardiac specific cytotoxicity, electrophysiology, GPCR functionality, siRNA transfection and hypertrophy induction. The cells express and use all essential ion channels and K, Na, and Ca currents have been recorded in patch clamp experiments. In addition, the expected effects of known ion channel modulators and cardio toxic substances are observed. Measurements have been validated on most instruments available.

Using its technology Axiogenesis has consequently designed a Clinical Modeling (CM) platform that is able to accelerate drug development. Axiogenesis is further offering exclusive customization services of cell lines and in house production of cardiomyocytes, endothelial cells, hepatocytes and neuronal cells.

Contact details:

For further information on Axiogenesis and its products please contact:

Rudolf Klinghammer, Phone: +49 (221) 9988 1824, Email: info@axiogenesis.com,

Web: www.axiogenesis.com

Download the complete press release here:

English: http://www.nanion.de/pdf/Nanion_Axiogenesis_PR_eng.pdf

German: http://www.nanion.de/pdf/Nanion_Axiogenesis_PR_ger.pdf

Download the Patchliner application note here:

http://www.nanion.de/pdf/Patchliner_CorAtCardiomyocytes.pdf

Download the Port-a-Patch application note here:

http://www.nanion.de/pdf/Port-a-Patch_Cardiomyocytes.pdf

Nanostart holding Lumiphore announces

major new commercialization partnership

Lumiphore technology to be used in diagnostic tests from Brahms AG and its subsidiary Cezanne

High sensitivity, easy to use, minimal costs for materials

Frankfurt / Berlin / Nimes / Richmond, Calif. – June 23, 2009 – Lumiphore Inc., a leading California biotechnology company partly owned by Germany’s Nanostart AG, has entered into an important new partnership agreement with Brahms AG, a Berlin-based diagnostics company and its French subsidiary Cezanne involving the use of its Lumi4®-Tb technology in diagnostic tests from Brahms.

Under the agreement, Brahms together with its subsidiary Cezanne has the non-exclusive rights to incorporate Lumi4® technology into current and future diagnostic tests and the exclusive rights to use the technology in diagnostic tests for Down’s Syndrome including Trisomy 21, 13 and 18, Triploidy, Translocation, and Mosaicism.

”Lumiphore’s goal is to bring the benefits of lanthanide-based homogenous assays to the diagnostic markets, from central labs to point-of-care applications. Detection sensitivity and simplicity of use as well as material cost reductions in reagent use, labor, and reader platforms are all benefits of Lumiphore’s new reporter technology,“ said Steve Blose, Chief Business Development Officer of Lumiphore.

”Using Lumi4®-Tb in the reader technology of our diagnostic tests will provide multiple benefit for Brahms. Thus we will take Lumi4®-Tb into consideration for the development of future analysis systems, both in laboratories and point-of-care-formats,“ said Ansgar Schmitt, Vice President of Business Development at Brahms. Lumi4®-Tb will both increase sensitivity of Brahms diagnostic tests and allow the development of multiplexed assays (measuring 3-4 parameters in one test sample).

Marco Beckmann, CEO of Nanostart, added: ”We congratulate our portfolio company Lumiphore on this major new success in commercialization. The technology from Lumiphore ensures superb quality and reliability of analysis.“

About Nanostart:

About Lumiphore:

Based in Richmond, California, Lumiphore Inc, a privately held company, is a biotechnology leader in the development of proprietary fluorescent-metal lanthanide technology for use in high-value applications which are commercialized through market-specific alliances with corporate partners. Lumi4® complexes are a new class of fluorescent-metal lanthanide detection reagents based on technology patented by Professor Kenneth N. Raymond and coworkers at the University of California, Berkeley. Lumi4® is a registered mark of Lumiphore, Inc.

About Brahms:

Brahms AG researches, develops, produces and markets innovative diagnostic biomarkers. The company sells its products in more than 65 countries through its own subsidiary companies and sales organizations as well as through its proprietary laboratory systems and global licensing partners.

Disclaimer:

NSF nanocenter head Newberry joins NanoInk board

Market Wire (June 15, 2009)

SKOKIE, IL, Jun 15, 2009 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- NanoInk, Inc.(R), a global leader in nanotechnology, is pleased to announce the appointment of renowned nanotechnology expert Deb Newberry to its NanoProfessor NanoScience Education Advisory Board. As a nuclear physicist with a background in chemical and mechanical engineering, Ms. Newberry will draw from her 23 years of experience in research and executive management to advise NanoInk in its efforts to work with government leaders, communities, and educational institutions to provide a hands-on curriculum in the science and art of nanotechnology. The NanoProfessor NanoScience Education Program will debut during the 2009-2010 academic year at Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount, Minn., where Ms. Newberry serves as director of the nanoscience technology program and newly funded NSF Regional Center for Nanotechnology Education, Nano-Link.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has estimated that the world will require two million trained nanotechnologists by 2015, drawing attention to the immediate need for students to obtain practical, hands-on experience at the nanoscale level.

"As a teacher and life-long student of nanotechnology, I understand the importance of educating tomorrow's industry leaders today," said Deb Newberry. "The NanoProfessor Program will help prepare students for employment in the numerous industries where nanoscience applications are rapidly emerging. We are thrilled to be the first college to implement this program, and anticipate that it will be a driving force in creating a skilled workforce of nanotechnologists."

The NanoProfessor Program leverages NanoInk's state-of-the-art NLP 2000 Desktop Nanofabrication System, to provide students with the ability to quickly and easily build custom-engineered, nanoscale structures in a classroom setting.

Surrounding the NLP 2000 Desktop Nanofabrication System is an exciting nanoscience curriculum that is grounded in fundamental science and engineering concepts at the nanoscale level. Students will gain valuable and insightful experience through interdisciplinary focused, hands-on experiments and manufacturing via the state-of-the-art NLP 2000 System.

NanoInk is supporting the NanoProfessor Program with several initiatives focused on directing students into the programs of participating schools. Included in these initiatives are the NanoProfessor NanoScience Scholarship Program and marketing templates that participating schools can use in marketing their new or expanding nanoscience offerings to prospective students.

"Deb's wealth of experience in the nanoscience field makes her an invaluable resource to our program, as we work to bring a hands-on nanotechnology curriculum to the classroom," said Dean Hart, executive vice president for NanoInk. "She was instrumental in implementing the NanoProfessor Program at Dakota County Technical College, and will serve as a key component in the future growth of our program."

Prior to Dakota County Technical College, Ms. Newberry worked in the corporate world for more than 23 years as a researcher and executive. She served as a space executive director for General Dynamics, a manufacturer of products for the aerospace, combat systems, marine systems and information systems industries.

Ms. Newberry also worked for NASA, where she studied radiation effects on micro and nanoscale satellites. She developed methodologies for analyzing and testing radiation on satellite systems, which has been employed on more than 14 spacecraft currently in orbit. She also held national leadership positions with the IEEE, a professional non-profit association for the advancement of technology, and the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA).

After leaving her corporate career in 2001, Ms. Newberry become a nanotechnology business consultant, and co-authored the book titled, "The Next Big Thing Is Really Small," which describes how nanotechnology will revolutionize business.

Today, Ms. Newberry also serves as executive director of The NanoTechnology Group (TNTG), which supports the facilitation and development of nanoscale science education for grades pre-kindergarten through college. She is also chair of the board of directors and director of corporate relations for Project Universe, a Minnesota-based, non-profit corporation that produces space science media concepts for education and entertainment. Additionally, she serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Nano Education (JNE), and is a member of the following professional organizations: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS); American Chemical Society (ACS); Foresight Institute; IEEE; Institute of Physics (IoP); LifeScience Alley(R); Micro and Nanotechnology Commercialization Education Foundation (MANCEF); and the Minnesota High Tech Association (MHTA).

Ms. Newberry earned a master's degree in nuclear physics from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, and has an extensive educational background in math, chemistry and mechanical engineering.

About NanoInk

NanoInk, Inc. is an emerging growth technology company specializing in nanometer-scale manufacturing and applications development for the life science and semiconductor industries. Using Dip Pen Nanolithography(R) (DPN(R)), a patented and proprietary nanofabrication technology, scientists are enabled to rapidly and easily create nanoscale structures from a wide variety of materials. This low cost, easy to use and scalable technique brings sophisticated nanofabrication to the laboratory desktop. Located in the new Illinois Science + Technology Park, north of Chicago, NanoInk currently has more than 140 patents and applications filed worldwide and has licensing agreements with Northwestern University, Stanford University, University of Strathclyde, University of Liverpool, California Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. For more information on products and services offered by NanoInk, Inc., visit www.nanoink.net.

NanoInk, the NanoInk logo, Dip Pen Nanolithography and DPN are trademarks or registered trademarks of NanoInk, Inc.

Space Energy Group Opens International Headquarters in Switzerland;

Space-Based Solar Power Pioneer to Develop, Own, and Operate SBSP Satellites

Investment Enhances Switzerland's Role in Solar Energy Applications

NEW YORK, May 26 - Space Energy Group, with plans to commercialize space-based solar power (SBSP), has opened its international headquarters in Switzerland, reports Mario Brossi, North American senior representative for Switzerland Trade and Investment Promotion. Locally hired multilingual staffing at the new facilities in Schaffhausen is expected to reach 20 - 25 to support the corporate key structure including group accounting and auditing, and will be responsible for licensing all non-US agreements, Mr. Brossi said.

Peter Sage, principal director, noted that as an international company seeking to apply SBSP technology across the world, Space Energy deals with multiple cultures, and therefore saw an advantage in Switzerland?s reputation as a neutral country. "It was our first choice," he said, "and the decision was further supported by its business-friendly government, well-trained multilingual workforce, a high degree of productivity, excellent educational institutions, and a strong focus on R&D."

Other reasons cited by Mr. Sage included Switzerland's world-wide recognition as a genuine location, not just any off-shore location. "Schaffhausen was selected as it offers specific tax benefits for non-residential business," he said, adding that "Switzerland?s MSM Group is a key partner in the project and is preparing the company's world-wide legal, accounting and tax positions."

Space Energy's Project

Space Energy plans to use proven concepts to develop geosynchronous orbit satellites that will operate as space solar energy collectors and transmitters. Clean solar energy will be transmitted from these orbiting satellites to receivers on the Earth's surface. According to the company key benefits include the ability of the solar arrays to remain in sunlight 24 hours a day and the ability to deliver power on demand without the need for complex or large-scale terrestrial infrastructure. (www.spaceenergy.com )

Other Solar Projects in Switzerland

In welcoming Space Energy to Switzerland, Mr. Brossi noted that several other pioneering applications for solar energy have their genesis in the country. "One example is the Solar Islands project out of CSEM in Neuchatel, which just received Union Pétrolière's seventh Prix Evenir for sustainable development," he said. "This calls for the creation of land- or sea-based large circular solar panel islands that rotate to follow the sun, creating electricity and hydrogen." (www.csem.ch/fs/si_concept.htm)

Another example is the Sun 21, a 14m- (46-ft) long solar-powered catamaran vessel built by a Swiss firm and registered in Basel, which completed an historic transatlantic voyage in March 2007. During the day, the 48 solar panels on its roof gather energy from the sun. The power is stored in batteries, which allow it to sail through the night. (www.solarnavigator.net/transatlantic_21.htm)

Louis Palmer's Solartaxi left Luzern during the European Sustainable Energy Forum in July 2007 for an around-the-world tour. It returned in December 2008 after 53,431 kilometers (32,934 miles). (www.solartaxi.com)

"Perhaps best known," Mr. Brossi said, "is explorer Bertrand Piccard and his Solar Impulse project aimed at an around-the-world-flight powered by the sun starting in 2010. Research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) is directed at solving the complex issues of a flight that requires only renewable sources of energy and without creating pollutants." (www.solar-impulse.epfl.ch/; www.solarimpulse.com)

CSEM to celebrate a quarter of a century of success

on the occasion of its ”Innovation Day“ on 27th May in Berne

Neuchâtel, 25th May 2009 – CSEM, Centre Suisse d’Electronique et de Microtechnique, can be justly proud to display such impressive results after 25 years of existence. Its strong capacity for innovation has, over the years, made it a partner of choice in the domestic and international research sectors. Under the patronage of Mrs Doris Leuthard, Federal Counsellor, and in the company of personalities from the political, economic and scientific world, CSEM will celebrate its 25 years of success on 27th May in Berne.

The environment and sustainable development have become important issues for our societies, and require our full commitment in creating reliable, responsible and sustainable solutions. During the 25 years of its existence, CSEM has succeeded in adapting to and managing increasingly complex technologies by integrating the prevailing economic and financial realities. Today, within a global perspective of sustainable development, CSEM combines technologies and the environment to offer innovative and competitive solutions. It is also an important player in the economy – having generated approximately 500 jobs with the creation of 29 spin-offs, in addition to the 400 jobs spread over seven sites in Switzerland and abroad.

Thus, CSEM has chosen the environment as its theme to celebrate its 25th anniversary on 27th May at the Bellevue Palace in Berne. On this occasion, CSEM has enriched its ”Innovation Day“ by the presence of prestigious speakers such as Mrs Doris Leuthard, Federal Counsellor, Head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, and Mr Nicolas G. Hayek, Chairman and Managing Director of the Swatch Group board. The chairman of CSEM, Mr Claude Nicollier, will complete this distinguished group of speakers in his role as moderator at this anniversary event.

Thomas Hinderling, CSEM CEO, is looking forward very much to this jubilee: ”This is a very important day for CSEM, with strong support from the political and industrial sectors. We hope to be in a position to continue the CSEM success story for the next 25 years!“

CSEM´s reputation as an innovation center is firmly established. Its 29 spin-offs and start-ups already testify to the rich business potential of its technologies. They offer responses to the needs of the market and contribute to the dynamic and high-tech image of the Swiss industrial landscape. On the other hand, strategic cooperation and alliances with university institutes and other European research centers – CEA (F), Fraunhofer (D) and VTT (FIN) – promote research, create synergies, and speed up the transfer of technologies within industry.

There is no doubt that CSEM will continue to be successful. Its turnover has again grown strongly in 2008, and the forecast for 2009 is optimistic. At a time when economic slowdown is dominating the news, CSEM seems to have been spared by this negative trend. The company also regularly receives awards that acknowledge the quality of its projects or management. The latest to date, the “National Energy Globe“, rewards the Solar Islands project as a sustainable development project with high technological innovation capacity and strong growth potential.

To prove its commitment to this area, on 27th May, CSEM is putting the environment at the heart of its considerations, in addition to those initiatives enabling it to consolidate its innovative role well beyond our borders.

About CSEM

CSEM – an innovation center

Further information is available at www.csem.ch

Physik Instrumente adds Design and Manufacturing in the USA

Test of a PI nanopositioning stage (for super resolution microscopy) with a Zygo interferometer in PI’s Auburn, MA metrology lab.

Auburn, MA -- PI (Physik Instrumente) L.P. a leading manufacturer of nanopositioning and precision motion control equipment for the optics, photonics, semiconductor, bio/nanotechnology and medical industries, is ramping up its manufacturing capabilities in the US. Last year, the company hired Philip Greene as VP of Engineering and Manufacturing. Greene brings extensive technical knowledge in the design and manufacture of ultra-precision motion systems. Prior to joining PI, Greene was VP Engineering at Dover Instrument Corporation (now part of Danaher Motion), a world leader in precision motion and air bearing systems

Important move to allow PI to become more competitive and flexible

Greene has already started to build an engineering team at the company’s Auburn, MA US headquarters. The group has completed the design of a number of new piezoelectric nanopositioning products which began shipping to customers in January 2009. Engineers have at their disposal modern design tools such as CAD and Finite Element Analysis to cut development time. A nanometrology lab with industry-leading Zygo interferometry test equipment ensures that products meet PI’s stringent performance standards.

Products specifically suited for the needs of the North American market

The focus of PI’s US engineering effort is on developing standard and custom nanopositioning products specifically suited for the needs of the North American market, by working more closely with the customer’s engineering teams and budgets.

”This move will also take advantage of the US’s relatively low manufacturing cost compared to the EU and makes PI more competitive within the North American market“ says Brian Lula PI USA’s president. ”Phil Greene’s broad expertise in motion system design, test metrologies and manufacturing under a strong QA discipline will be greatly beneficial to PI’s North American customers“.

About PI

PI is a leading manufacturer of piezo systems, piezo stages, linear motors and precision motion-control equipment for photonics, bio-nanotechnology & semiconductor applications. PI has been developing and manufacturing standard & custom precision products with piezoceramic and electromagnetic drives for 4 decades. The company has been ISO 9001 certified since 1994 and provides innovative, high-quality solutions for OEM and research. PI is present worldwide with eight subsidiaries, five design & manufacturing locations on 3 continents and total staff of over 500.

USA / Canada: www.pi-usa.us, Europe: www.pi.ws, Asia: www.pi-japan.jp, www.pi-china.cn

Physik Instrumente USA opens Piezo Basics Online Store

Auburn, MA, PI (Physik Instrumente) L.P. a leading manufacturer of nanopositioning and precision motion control equipment has opened an online store to better support its North American customer base.

The store will provide basic piezo products and starter kits to make it easier for researchers and industrial designers to get started with nanopositioning applications. All parts offered in the store are available from stock at the company’s Auburn, MA headquarters.

The store address is http://store.pi-usa.us

Vistec Lithography presents the latest version of its EBPG product line

Vistec's EBPG5200 features the most advanced electron beam lithography technology for exposure of substrates - from small fragments to complete 200mm substrates.

The EBPG5200 - Evolution rather than Revolution:

The Vistec EBPG5200 represents the continued development stage of the successful EBPG product series. With added improvements in resolution, noise reduction, and stability, the Vistec EBPG5200 is even better adapted to the diverse and ever increasing nanotechnology requirements of science and research at universities, academic and industry-related research centers.

The Vistec EBPG5200 enables users to address a multitude of application fields, such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, integrated optics, security, semiconductor research, X-ray optics, MEMS and sensor engineering to name but a few of them. Vistec EBPG5200 system users benefit from more than thirty years of experience that Vistec has gained in the electron beam lithography business. This is clearly demonstrated by a large established base of EBPG systems currently installed worldwide.

Safe Investment for the Future:

A "modular" concept for functional features and user needs is the heart of the EBPG5200 scheme. The Vistec EBPG5200ES (Entry System) is the cost-efficient basic version of the EBPG5200 series. Upgrading to the full EBPG5200 functionality may be performed at any time, depending on the user's available budget and application requirements. This highly flexible concept facilitates adaptation to the latest requirements and future application needs while offering various retrofit modules that are affordably priced.

Extended Platform:

The Vistec EBPG5200 is equipped with a modified platform that supports full exposure of substrates to a maximum size of 200mm. Like the previous EBPG tools, it can be used to expose fragments and special substrates in addition to standard substrate types and sizes. Essential design principles of the previous EBPG systems have been incorporated into this new 200mm platform.

Leading Edge Lithography:

With further enhancements in resolution, noise reduction and beam stability, the Vistec EBPG5200 is set to generate structures to less than 8nm on substrates of any size and type. Its electron-optical column (TFE source) is rated for acceleration voltages of 20, 50, and 100kV. With the EBPG5200 Vistec offers true 100kV / 1mm performance under regu¬lar electron-optical conditions. However, what makes Vistec?s electron beam lithography of superior standards actually possible is the perfect match of the various system components such as the electron-optical column, the hardware platform, the data processor and the exposure engine working together in a flexible and user friendly system. One example, how this relates to practice is the structuring of fine gates and coarser connector pads in transistor arrays. By splitting the job into a coarse and fine writing strategy, throughput can be maximized. Such sub-50nm gates can be structured to run at optimum exposure current and the coarser pads exposed with a useful beam current greater than 100nA and a maximum deflection rate of 50MHz in an automatic exposure cycle. Switching between ultra-high resolution and throughput occurs on a floating basis and is fully automated. No manual intervention is required, whether at the electron-optical column or in terms of program sequence.

Simple Operation - Highest Fexibility:

The system incorporates an interactive graphical user interface (GUI) that provides the ease of use for diverse "multi user environments", as often required in the case of large user teams. The EBPG5200 has a proven and reliable load-lock. With a maximum holding capacity of ten equal or different substrate holders, the load-lock can accomodate a variety of substrate sizes and types as necessary for the particular application task. With this highly automated operation mode, users may also tailor the exposure sequencing to their specific requirements. Furthermore, the system includes LINUX based operational software and the user may choose his preferred data preparation scheme.

The EBPG5200 - The System of Choice for Electron Beam Nanolithography:

The EBPG5200 represents a high performance electron beam lithography patterning system for today?s and future nanotechnology requirements. With its evolutionary design, advanced lithography specification, performance and software, as well as with its substrate flexibility, compact footprint, and excellent global service support, the EBPG5200 is the system of choice for all current and future nanotechnology applications.

About Vistec Electron Beam Lithography Group

Vistec Lithography

Vistec Electron Beam

company is located in Jena (Germany).

Nanostart-held Namos reaches final round of

IQ Innovation Awards for Central Germany

Namos GmbH one of two finalists in the Automotive category

New technology from Namos saves up to 50% of precious metal required for the production of automotive catalytic converters

Annual savings potential estimated at USD 4 billion

Frankfurt / Dresden – May 20, 2009 – Dresden-based Namos GmbH, a portfolio company of Nanostart AG, has reached the final round of the IQ Innovation Awards for Central Germany with its project ”Saving of precious metals in catalytic converters using a biological template.“ Namos now remains as one of two finalists within the Automotive category, one of six different award categories in this year’s IQ Innovation Awards. A winner will be announced for each award category along with an overall winner. 132 companies from throughout central Germany were nominated for this year’s competition, which is sponsored by the Industrial Initiative for Central Germany, a private initiative set up to promote and strengthen regional competitiveness within the German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. Out of these 132 nominees, a total of 12 finalists were selected.

The proprietary process from Namos is based on a bionanotechnological coating which is applied to the ceramic substrate used in catalytic converters, enabling very substantial savings in the amount of precious metal required to produce them. Approx. 230 metric tons of ”new“ (i.e. non-recycled) precious metal are currently consumed each year to produce automotive catalytic converters, corresponding to an annual value of USD 6-8 billion. Roughly half of this amount could be saved through the new technology from Namos.

A judging panel of 20 leading figures from business, academia and government throughout the three German states will select the category winners and overall winner at the end of May. The five other categories are Biology/Life Sciences, Chemistry/Polymers, Food Technology, Information Technology and Energy/Environment. The winners of the IQ Innovation Awards for Central Germany 2009 will be announced at the IQ awards ceremony, which will be held in the city of Halle/Saale on June 10.

About Nanostart:

About Namos:

Disclaimer:

Nanostart holding Nanosys launches new solar photovoltaic division, QD Soleil™

Frankfurt / Palo Alto, CA – May 13, 2009 – Nanostart holding Nanosys recently announced the creation of QD Soleil™, a wholly owned division focused on the use of its proprietary nanotechnology in solar panel cell designs. Nanotechnology is the next step in the natural evolution of a solar generated grid-ready energy supply.

QD Soleil's intellectual property is a seminal estate that includes over 500 patents and patent applications. This technology has been refined over many years by Nanosys and exploits the best in class inorganic material compositions, processing and integration chemistries, and includes the most stable nanomaterial formulations known. Applications of the technology and intellectual property are broad and include additive enhancement layers for light conversion engineering, nano-particle inks, light waveguide concentrators and nanomaterial composites for enhancing overall solar cell efficiency. Nanosys is considering strategic options to maximize the value of QD Soleil, including possible sale to a large photovoltaic manufacturer. QD Soleil is now meeting with potential partners and parties interested in acquiring a substantial footprint in nanotechnology for photovoltaics.

”Based on the current administration's energy focus, the U.S. is likely to grow into the largest installed market of solar panels in the world over the next five years,“ commented Nanosys CEO Jason Hartlove . ”Nanosys is one of the world's leading nanotechnology companies, with a consolidated position in inorganic nanotechnology, and significant product launches in other areas such as green lighting this year. Therefore, we believe that QD Soleil can focus and execute more effectively as a separate division.“

”It's an exciting time for QD Soleil to engage with larger companies best poised to fully exploit seminal IP, know-how and critically enabling technologies,“ said Vijendra Sahi , VP and GM of the QD Soleil division. ”We are particularly excited because we can utilize much of the technology base and materials now being launched in products by Nanosys.“

For more information about QD Soleil, visit QD Soleil's website at www.qdsoleil.com.

About Nanostart:

About Nanosys:

Nanosys, Inc. is a leader in the development of nanotechnology-enabled products utilizing high performance inorganic nanostructures. Nanosys has built one of the broadest technology platforms in the industry with approximately 500 patents and patent applications covering fundamental areas of nanotechnology. Based in Palo Alto, California and privately held, Nanosys collaborates with industry leaders to develop revolutionary high-value, high-performance products for computing, optoelectronics, communications, renewable energy, defense and the life sciences.

More company information can be found at: www.nanosysinc.com.

Disclaimer:

Konarka and Arch Aluminum & Glass Sign Advanced Product Development Agreement

- Konarka and Arch Aluminum Collaborate to Integrate Konarka Power Plastic® into Glass Products for Commercial Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV)

Lowell, Mass. — May 5, 2009 — Konarka Technologies, Inc., an innovator in development and commercialization of Konarka Power Plastic®, a material that converts light to energy, today announced the company has entered into an advanced product development agreement with Florida-based Arch Aluminum & Glass Co., Inc. The companies plan to collaborate on building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), photovoltaic materials used to replace conventional building materials. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) outlines the integration of Konarka’s patent-protected thin film solar material into glass for various commercial BIPV applications. BIPV is one of the fastest growing segments of the photovoltaic industry.

”Konarka is making great strides with our aggressive plans to expand into various markets, including building and construction,“ commented Rick Hess, president and CEO at Konarka. ”Because our solar material is flexible, lightweight and semi-transparent, it integrates easier and is more aesthetically appealing than other solar products, making it ideally suited for BIPV applications. We expect that our collaborative work with Arch Aluminum & Glass will advance the delivery of Konarka Power Plastic on a large scale basis into this market segment.“

Arch Aluminum specializes in a wide range of artistic and architectural glass products to keep pace with the demands of today's architects, designers and building developers. The company offers in-house laminating, heat-treating and fabrication technology as well as selective, engineered, off-the-shelf aluminum and glass products.

”Until today, aesthetic and performance concerns limited the ability of architects to use BIPV technology in their designs,“ commented Arch CEO Leon Silverstein. ”This product development investigation is about the creation of a new product category, one that had been unavailable until today. It is energy-efficient and transparent with superior vertical performance and a subtle red, blue or green aesthetic. With these features, BIPV will no longer need to be confined to spandrel or overhead applications. An entire building can be put to use, producing its own power, and looking good doing so. We’re excited about our efforts with Konarka to bring this technology to the building community.“

In October 2008, Konarka opened the largest roll-to-roll flexible thin film solar manufacturing facility in the world, preparing for the commercialization and mass production of its solar material for various market segments including sensors, consumer products, tent and fabric structures, greenhouses, marine and boating, building construction, as well as fashion and accessories, among others.

About Arch Aluminum & Glass Co. Inc.

Arch Aluminum is your TRUE SINGLE SOURCE® for Architectural Aluminum, Extrusions, Insulated, Tempered, Mirrors, Laminated, and Decorative Glass. Arch is an American-owned, family business founded in 1978. Arch now operates 32 facilities in 17 states with more than 2100 employees. For more information on Arch Aluminum & Glass, visit http://www.archaluminum.net or call 1-866-629-ARCH.

About Konarka Technologies, Inc.

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US NANOPARTICLE MANUFACTURER OPENS ITS DOOR

FOR NEW TECHNOLOGIES

NanoGIANT LLC announces new standard in monodisperse silica nanospheres – in bulk

Phoenix, Arizona - Breaking into the nanoparticle manufacturing market, NanoGIANT LLC is now producing extremely uniform silicon dioxide (SiO2) spheres. Independent characterization tests using Brookhaven instruments show a polydispersity of 0.005 on NanoGIANT's 368.2nm sphere.

Unlike other narrow particle announcements, the clear differentiators for NanoGIANT are its ability to produce virtually uniform, affordable nanospheres quickly and in kilogram (kg) increments.

”Our ability to rapidly mass produce our spheres cost effectively while maintaining the polydispersity will prove to be a key advantage for our customers,“ said Tony Whelan, VP of Business Development at NanoGIANT.

”Nanotechnology is still just scratching the surface of its true potential. Our spheres will allow the transition from research to development for technologies where narrow spheres had previously been inaccessible due to manufacturing limitations.

Our technology will open the floodgates for manufacturing using highly specialized materials. We believe that the cost savings our customers can achieve with our material will revolutionize manufacturing in dozens of sectors.“ says Whelan

Sample spheres are available for sale online - http://www.nanogiant.org

Based in Phoenix, Arizona, NanoGIANT LLC is a privately owned research and development company, specializing in the proprietary manufacture of highly uniform silicon dioxide (SiO2) nanoparticles. The company focuses on producing very narrow particles for mass production in the nanotechnology industry.

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