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**Public release date: 11-Oct-2007**\
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-10/poen-tnf101107.php

Contact: Sharon McCarter\
<sharon.mccarter@wilsoncenter.org>\
202-691-4016\
[Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies](http://www.nanotechproject.org/)

**The nanotech future: a conversation with Mihail Roco**

WASHINGTON, DC. It is hard to discuss the future of nanotechnology
without talking about or with Mike Roco. Dr. Roco is the key architect
of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) America's \$8 billion
federal investment in the science and engineering research expected to
revolutionize technology and industry.

Nanotechnology refers to the emerging science of manufacturing materials
that are measured in nanometers, usually at the 1-100 nanometers scale.
The head of a pin is 1 million nanometers wide. By 2014, Lux Research
estimates that \$2.6 trillion in manufactured goods will incorporate
nanotechnology, or about 15 percent of global output.

What was Dr. Roco's vision in 2000 at the start of the NNI? What are his
expectations for nanotechnology's many promises in medicine, sustainable
energy, and electronics? What challenges does nanotechnology pose for
the future, particularly as it reaches toward third and fourth
generation development¡ªin guided molecular assembly, 3D networking,
robotics, supra-molecules, molecules by design, and evolutionary
systems?

Robert Service, nanotechnology reporter at Science magazine, will
interview Dr. Roco about nanotechnology at a **Friday, November 9th,
2007, 12:30 p.m. event and live webcast** at the Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars.

The event is sponsored by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies
([www.nanotechproject.org](http://www.nanotechproject.org/)), a joint
initiative of the Wilson Center and The Pew Charitable Trusts. Project
director David Rejeski will introduce the program.

Prior to joining the National Science Foundation, Dr. Roco was Professor
of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Kentucky ((1981-1995),
and held visiting professorships at the California Institute of
Technology (1988-89), Johns Hopkins University (1993-1995), Tohoku
University (1989) and Delft University of Technology (1997-1998). He is
credited with 13 inventions, and has authored and co-authored numerous
articles, publications and books.

Dr. Roco will receive the National Materials Advancement Award from the
Federation of Materials Societies at the National Press Club in
Washington, DC on December 5, 2007
(<http://www.nsf.gov/eng/nano/Award07_National_Materials_Avancement_Award.pdf>)
.

He is Corresponding Member of the Swiss Academy of Sciences, Fellow of
the American Institute of Chemical Engineering, Fellow of the Institute
of Physics and Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering.
Dr. Roco initiated work on converging technologies, and on societal
implications of nanotechnology since the beginning of the NNI.

\*\*\* Webcast LIVE at <http://www.wilsoncenter.org/nano> \*\*\*

What: **The Nanotech Future: A Conversation with Mihail Roco**

**Who: Mihail C. Roco, Senior Advisor for Nanotechnology, National
Science Foundation\
Robert F. Service, Correspondent, Science, Interviewer\
David Rejeski, Director, Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies,
Moderator\
**\
When:Friday, November 9th, 2007, 12:30 ¨C 1:30 p.m. (Lunch available at
noon.)

Where: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 6th\
Floor Board Room, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC\
20004
([www.wilsoncenter.org/directions](http://www.wilsoncenter.org/directions)).
Media planning to cover the event should contact Sharon McCarter at
(202) 691-4016 or <sharon.mccarter@wilsoncenter.org>.

The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies was launched in 2005 by the
Wilson Center and The Pew Charitable Trusts. It is dedicated to helping
business, governments, and the public anticipate and manage the possible
health and environmental implications of nanotechnology.