Committee:  Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space

Members Present: Chairman Wyden (D-OR) and Senator Allen (R-VA)

Witnesses:  The Honorable Richard Russell, Associate Director for Technology
   Office of Science and Technology Policy

   Mr. F. Mark Modzelewski, Executive Director
   NanoBusiness Alliance

   Dr. Samuel I. Stupp, Board of Trustees Professor
   Materials Science, Chemistry and Engineering
   and Director, Institute for Bioengineering and Nanoscience in Advanced Medicine, Northwestern University

   Dr. Stan Williams, HP Fellow and Director
   Quantum Science Research
   Hewlett-Packard

   Dr. Nathan Swami, Director
   Director, Initiative for Nanotechnology
   Commonwealth of Virginia and
   Microelectronics Program Director
   University of Virginia

Stated Concerns or Comments:  Chairman Wyden said that nanotechnology will dramatically change the way Americans
live, that the potential to change could be equal to, if not greater than, the computer revolution.  At present, efforts in the
nanotechnology field are strewn across a half-dozen Federal agencies.  He wants to marshal these efforts into one driving force
to remain the world's leader in this field.  He believes Federal support is essential.  He is introducing legislation today.  The
following three steps must be taken to ensure success:  establish a National Nanotechnology Research Program to ensure
long-term fundamental nanoscience and engineering research; the Federal government should support nanoscience through a
program of research grants and through the establishment of nanotechnology research centers; and the government should
create connections across its agencies to aid in the meshing of various nanotechnology efforts.  Also he believes an annual
review of these efforts should be made by the Presidential Advisory Committee and a periodic review from the National
Academy of Sciences.

 The witnesses were supportive of the initiative.  Mr. Russell conveyed the Administration's commitment to nanotechnology and
the NNI program and said that OSTP is actively working with  the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) to
implement many of the National Research Council's recommendations.  Mr. Modzelewski said that NSF predicts a $1trillion
global market for nanotechnology in a little over a decade but some areas of concern are adequate funding for basic research
and the current state of US intellectual property (Patent Office needs training programs to ensure its examiners understand
nanotechnology and its multi-disciplinary nature).  He said the current state of technology transfer is lacking, specifically, the
transfer process from government and academic labs to the marketplace.  Dr. Williams's primary concern is that we will not
train and retain enough of the best researchers to be leaders in nanotechnology and Dr. Swami recommended that the
legislation should encourage the development of regional centers for excellence in research instrumentation, encompassing both
multi-disciplinary facilities and state-of-the-art infrastructure and should require coordination between the NNCO and existing
state nanotechnology initiatives as well as university research offices.

 The discussion centered around the importance of agency partnerships, sufficient funding, using the legal framework within the
Bayh-Dole Act for technology transfer and attracting young students into the fields of science and engineering.  Dr. Williams,
responding to Senator Allen’s question on research collaborations, said that while Bayh-Dole legislation (the vehicle by which
universities can license intellectual property that they create) is not the problem, the interpretation that small companies should
be preferred over large companies in intellectual property concerns presents a fairness issue.  He said that research
collaboration in Russia, China and France is easier.  Dr. Stupp discussed the potential that target drugs and regenerative
medicine have for the future and Dr. Swami sees immediate applications for the diagnostics and sensor fields.