Nanotech promises exciting future

The science & technology sector in India has shown steady growth in-spite of the ongoing global recession and there are exciting opportunities ahead in the nanotechnology sector, said C N R Rao, Chairman of the Science Advisory Committee to the Prime Minister of India, while speaking at second edition of Bangalore Nano, a conclave for nanotechnology in Bangalore.

Detailing the nuances of this growth he said: “Even though science is not attractive monetarily, many youngsters have shown great interest in R&D. The future seems very exciting with large scale applications waiting to happen especially in Nanotechnology. Nanotechnology has tremendous potential and I see lot of young people taking a keen interest in this field. In India, in spite of the economic slowdown, science & technology has done well and has shown steady growth. In the past year or so many positive developments have taken place in the nanotech field.”

He further advised students to beware of educational institutions offering Masters Degree in Nanotechnology. “Nanotech is still in a nascent stage and one cannot give a master’s degree in this,” he cautioned.

Speaking about how India is gaining in nanotechnology Prof Pulickel M Ajayan, of Rice University said, “The status of India has gone up in recent times. There are good investments coming-in and many youngsters are being motivated towards science and nanotech. The major challenge facing the Nano industry is nanoengineering. One of the best examples is the Carbon Nano tube.”

The various approaches that have been taken to develop applications using carbon nano tubes are a blend of the traditional top-down approach and the bottom-up approach, but there are several bottle necks in that approach.”