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Article: The new engineering world: a national investment strategy is key to transforming nanotechnology from science fiction to an everyday engineering tool.(United States National Nanotechnology Initiative)
- Article from:
- Mechanical Engineering-CIME
- Article date:
- April 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 American Society of Mechanical Engineers. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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IT HAS GONE LARGELY UNNOTICED IN THE larger society, but we are now in a new era. This era is one of increased innovation for manufacturing products, of new techniques for improving human health and cognitive abilities, of integrating fundamental research and technology from the molecular and even atomic levels. In short, we are in the Nanotechnology Age for Science and Engineering, whether most people know it or not.
Because of the promise of this new era, government investments worldwide for nanotechnology research and development have increased eightfold in seven years, reaching about $4 billion in 2004. All Fortune 500 companies in materials, electronics, and ...