Building the Nano Republic

July 8, 2002

Jim Heath, keynote speaker at this month's Nano Republic Conference, made big waves in the small tech world last March when he announced that he would be departing UCLA and stepping down as acting Director of The California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI). Although his planned year-end departure was considered sobering for the state-funded CNSI, Heath is very confident that the current California-based nano activity will help produce a strong economy in the future. As one of the world's leading molecular scientists, Heath looks forward to becoming part of that activity by continuing to oversee the goals of CNSI and advancing his heralded research in nano-scale computing in a new position at Caltech.

"One of the things I always try to do is be very optimistic and bullish on this field, because I've obviously staked my career on it," Heath says. "But one thing I always do when I present this is to base it what the timeline is for the development of the field on measurable quantities. And the timeline is not short."

During the conference, which is focusing on both the business and science possibilities of nano activity in California, Heath plans to address what he perceives as the near and far-term technologies that are emerging from the field, as well as possible time scales and business models. Heath contends it is still too early to talk seriously about near-term market possibilities, but believes the potential commercial applications for nano-scale technologies are significant.

"I'm not going to say that it's a $1 market or a $100 million market; I don't know. We're so far right now from having a legitimate group of companies that are based in nano," says Heath. "But I know a lot of companies are getting very serious about this kind of technology. There are efforts going on at IBM and Hewlett Packard and even a little bit at Intel with these types of technologies. They're understanding that there's a way to do manufacturing which is much more efficient and much better, and it's all through molecular design of the systems. That's the nano world; it's just a new manufacturing method. But because it's new is why it's so long term. It's not just developing a widget or a material to make it great. It's developing a whole new manufacturing process that goes with it."

Heath and cofounder Evelyn Hu developed the proposal in 2000 to create the Institute, a collaborative effort between UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, the State of California and the private sector intended to develop and research natural systems on the molecular level. CNSI was awarded $100 million in California state funds, which had to be matched two-to-one by the private sector, and will finish completing its first two buildings this year, to be located on the UCLA campus. Evelyn Hu will take over for Jim Heath as director of the Institute.

Heath, who studied at Rice University in the group of Richard E. Smalley, is considered to be one of the leading researchers in nano-scale computing. But since undertaking the ambitious effort to help form and operate CNSI, his focus has shifted from scientific research to operational management, Heath experienced substantial frustration in his attempts to engage the UC system in commercialization efforts. Believing tech transfer is vital to the fiscal and productive health of the Institute, Heath drafted a charter that outlined an alternative way for CNSI to manage intellectual property in a more efficient manner.

"Our intention is to be bold and generous in getting the IP out so you won't have to have contracts that would go through a series of committees," he says of the charter, which will be discussed at some length during the keynote. "The biggest failure from the UC system from what I can tell is that there's so many people involved in sign offs and approval that don't understand, or their motivations are different, and that makes it very hard to get a contract signed. And there's no policy reasons why you can't do it; it's just practice. Caltech, MIT, and Stanford have all been really successful, and it's simply because they're accountable. Their rules are not that different from ours; it's just that they have a very streamlined and responsive process."

As a professor at Caltech, Heath plans to undertake research in the areas of electronics and biotech, which he will discuss in detail during his Nano Republic keynote. Although he is leaving his position as acting Director of CNSI, Heath will still be an active member of its board, and hopes to now have Caltech become more involved with CNSI. Heath also intends to oversee what he refers to as the intended goals of the Institute.

"I'll still be making sure of the scientific goals of CNSI that the Governor (Davis) stated are met, which basically is to develop an economy on Southern California nano. CNSI can only do that if it involves what I look at as a 101 corridor of universities, in which I include UCLA, Caltech, and Santa Barbara. So I remain very optimistic about CNSI. I did it for two and a half years. So it was a personal decision of it simply being enough."

by Wendy Hall
Larta Staff Writer

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The Nano Republic Conference 2002 - July 17
The Nano Republic Conference is a one-day Larta event featuring world-class speakers and highlighting California-wide nanotechnology efforts. The Nano Republic Conference will serve as a serious examination of the current state of nanotechnology and focus on its near-term developments and constraints. The Nano Republic Conference will bring together all current industry segments and leaders from industry, academia, labs and the capital markets. Registration for the Nano Republic Conference will give you free admission to the ZONE Club dinner reception and program.
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The ZONE Club - July 17
Immediately following the Nano Republic Conference the ZONE Club will host a dinner/networking event featuring one of the leaders of the venture capital community. Steve Jurvetson, Managing Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, will speak on "Nanotechnology: What's Hot, What's Hype, What's Not"
6-7 Networking, cocktails and great food
7-8 Program
8-9 More networking, food and drink
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