Summary:
The National Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Council, is
an interdisciplinary group, supported by the IEEE Nanotechnology
Council, oriented to participate jointly with the Universities,
research and development centers, the Industry and the Government
in all activities related to Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
in Colombia.
Mission :
To promote and to generate formation tasks, spreading, investigation
and technological development in the area of the Nanoscience
and Nanotechnology, as well as to open spaces of joint participation
between the academy, the industry and the state at local
and regional level to make an appropriation viable, generation
and application of the knowledge in this strategic line for
century XXI.
Recent Events:
International Conference on Nanotechnology:
Present and Future
August 25-26, 2005
Bogota , Colombia
The IEEE Colombia - National Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
of the IEEE
Nanotechnology
Council (NTC) organized a conference 'Nanotecnologia Presente
y Futuro' in Bogota on August 25-26, 2005 . The conference
was co-sponsored by the IEEE Colombia Section, BAYER Cropsciece,
Galante R & A Ltda., Universidad Santo
Tomás, Universidad San Buenaventura, Pontificia Universidad
Javeriana, Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, and Universidad
Distrital. The conference was held at the Biblioteca Publica
(Public Library) auditorium and attended by about 400 people
from all over Columbia . Over 60% of the participants were
students from various Colombian universities.
Dr.
Meyya Meyyappan, Director of the Center for Nanotechnology
at NASA Ames Research Center and President-elect of IEEE-NTC
was the Keynote Speaker. His Keynote lecture titled "Nanotechnology:
Opportunities and Challenges" covered nanotechnology
as an enabling technology in various sectors of the economy:
electronics, computing, memory, data storage, communications,
materials, manufacturing, health and medicine, energy, environment,
transportation, national security, etc. Besides giving some
emerging examples in each of these areas, he also provided
a short, medium and long term foreceast of the technologies
and products which can be expected.
Dr.
Meyyappan also provided two additional lectures during
the two day event. The first one focused on the nanoscale
properties. Aimed as a tutorial to help the students understand
why the nanoscale properties are different from their bulk
counterparts, this lecture focused on surface to volume
ratio, interfacial properties, and quantum mechanics. Differences
in properties such as melting point, specific heat, bandgap,
electrical conductivity, color, magnetic properties and others
when going from bulk to nanoscale were explained. The second
lecture titled "Novel One Dimensional Nanostructures" focused
on carbon nanotubes and inorganic nanowires. Growth and characterization
of these structures along with their applications in electronics,
chemical and biosensors, field emission devices and other
areas were covered.
The
conference had several organized sessions featuring invited
speakers from Colombian organizations. Dr, Carolos Maldonado
from CIPE, Externado de Columbia University spoke on the
philosophy of the science and nanotechnology and focused
on the epistemological status of nanotechnology. He argued
a twofold thesis: on the one hand, nanotechnoscience is
not just one more chapter in the history of science or
technology, but a radical shift that opens new horizons.
On the other hand, nanoscience can and must be seen as
a new science, namely a cross disciplinary and a border-science.
Thus, the question regarding the philosophy of nantechnoscience
deals with a science defined by border-problems, which
can shed new lights into similar sciences, such the sciences
of complex systems, for example. Whilst nanoscale research
cannot be seen as reductionist, from a philosophical point
of view the core subject lies on the concept of "scale." The
concept of nantechnoscience allows a real unification of
engineering and science, of construction, manipulation and
control of nanophenomena and, at the same time, an explanation
of what is being assembled and designed. Throughout such
a unity a quite new understanding of science and technology
is possible.
The session on Nanotechnology and Cancer featured speakers
Esperanza Castellanos (Physics-Medical at Javeriano Oncology
Center ), Ivan Hidalgo (CJO Radiotherapist), and Edgar Gonzalez
(President of the National Council of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology,
Professor-researcher at Javeriana University and Santo Tomas
University ). These talks covered the main techniques of
conventional treatment of the cancer with their limitations
and problems, as well as future possibilities offered by
nanotechnology to improve the procedures of prevention, diagnostic
and treatment of illness. Also discussed in detail was the
creation and characterization of gold and other nanoshells
for cancer diagnostics and treatments.
The conference ended with a 90 minute long panel discussion
with panelists Dr. Meyyappan, Dr. Jairo Giraldo of Nacional
de Colombia University, Dr. Rafael Rey of Nacional de Columbia
University, and Dr. Edgar Gonzalez. The panel focused on
nanotechnology as the technology of the 21 st century and
how developing countries like Colmubia can participate tn
the developments and benefit from it. The panel members answered
questions submitted by the audience.
The conference, first of its kind in Colombia and in Latin
America , was an extraordinary success. This was evident
from the large attendance, enthusiasm of the participants,
especially the students and the eagerness they showed to
learn more about this important ermerging field. Throughout
the conference, Orquesta Filarmonica de Bogota provided short
renderings of Columbian classical music to keep the participants
entertained in between various sessions.
Following the conference, the Presidents of the five sponsoring
universities signed a memorandum of agreement on August 29,
2005, to work together in developing facilities.
The conference chair was Professor Edgar Gonzalez, Universidad
Javeriana and Universidad Santo Tomas. He can be reached
at egonzale@javeriana.edu.co. With a tremendously enthusiastic
and capable student population but with limited resources,
Dr. Gonzalez and his Columbian colleagues are looking for
opportunities for collaboration, student and faculty visits
(both short and year-long) and other educational exchanges
with U.S. , European and Asian universities.
About the IEEE Nanotechnology Council:
The
Nanotechnology Council was formed as a multidisciplinary
group to advance and coordinate the many nanotechnology
scientific, literary and educational endeavors within the
IEEE. It has become a focal point in the field and is helping
to unite the global nanotechnology community. The Council
supports the theory, design, and development of nanotechnology
and its scientific, engineering, and industrial applications,
nanotechnology-related lectures, symposia and workshops,
publishes the "IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology" and
other periodicals, and sponsors nanotechnology standards.
The Nanotechnology Council is part of Division I - Circuits
and Devices and is made up of 20 member societies:
Aerospace & Electronic
System Society (AES)
Antennas & Propagation
Society (AP)
Circuits & Systems
Society CAS)
Communications Society (COM)
Components,
Packaging, & Manufacturing
Technology Society (CPMT)
Computer Society (C)
Control Systems Society (CS)
Electron Devices Society (ED)
Engineering
in Medicine & Biology Society (EMB)
Electromagnetic Compatibility Society (EMC)
Industrial Electronics Society (IE)
Instrumentation & Measurement
Society (IM)
Lasers & Electro-Optics
Society (LEO)
Magnetics Society (MAG)
Microwave
Theory & Techniques
Society (MTT)
Neural Network Society (NN)
Reliability Society (RL)
Robotics & Automation
Society (RA)
Systems,
Man, & Cybernetics
Society (SMC)
Ultrasonics,
Ferroelectrics, & Frequency
Control Society (UFFC)
