Evaluations Completed in FY 2007
Implications for U.S. Hi-Tech Industries and Employment for the Future
Final reports are available online at http://www.wtec.org/reports.htm
WTEC Study on
International Assessment of Research And Development of Carbon Nanotube Manufacturing and Applications
June 2007
This WTEC study focuses on the manufacturing and applications of single-walled and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to identify progress worldwide in addressing the commercial potential of CNTs, considering manufacturing methods and equipment, processing and separation techniques, characterization procedures, and opportunities for international collaboration in the context of evolving and potential electronic, optical, and mechanical applications.
In terms of needed R&D, the report identifies a need for more basic research on improving processing techniques as well as the need for more work on dispersion, functionalization, and blending of SWCNTs to capitalize on the full potential of this unique carbon nanomaterial. For all applications categories there is a need for increased emphasis on large-scale manufacturing and purification techniques as well as reliable characterization methods. Central to all CNT manufacturing issues are metrology and environment-health-safety R&D. / Commercial Applications of Carbon Nanotubes
Most potential applications of CNTs attempt to take advantage of their (1)low mass density, small diameter, and high aspect ratio, (2)remarkable electronic properties, including high electron/hole mobility, ballistic transport at cryogenic temperatures, and high tolerance to electromigration (3) high thermal conductivity, and (4)unusual mechanical properties, i.e., very high Young’s modulus (up to five times better than that of the best steel and high-quality carbon fibers), fracture toughness, and compliance (ability to bend without fracture). It is therefore expected that CNTs can be incorporated in revolutionary strong-but-lightweight composites for applications ranging from sporting equipment (e.g., the tennis rackets and golf clubs already in the market) to fuel-conserving but safe automotive bodies and aerospace components. The electronic structure of CNTs offer great promise for extending Moore’s law for the time evolution of VLSI circuit density in high-speed semiconducting devices.
CNT replacement products for indium tin oxide (ITO) and field emission devices (FEDs) are helping to drive the gradually increasing commercial production of single-walled CNTs (SWCNTs), which provide high specific surface area (cm2/gram) but have difficult manufacturing challenges in the precise control of CNT diameter and conductivity that have inhibited commercial realization. Once bulk manufacturing issues can be overcome and costs reduced, other potential opportunities for applications of SWCNTs are in energy storage (e.g., improved car batteries), in electromagnetic (EMI) shielding and electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection, and in solar cells and flexible, transparent touch screens; the latter may be among the first high-volume applications of SWCNTs.
Larger-diameter multi-walled CNTs (MWCNTs) have been proposed as interconnects in VLSI circuits, and they are already in widespread use in lithium-ion batteries, where MWCNT additives at 5-10 wt% combat material fatigue to provide significant improvement in the number of charge-discharge cycles before mechanical failure occurs. CNT-based supercapacitors may drive the growing market for MWCNTs—currently dominated by Japan—ever higher.
WTEC Study on
International Assessment of Research and Development in Brain-Computer Interfaces
October 2007 (hard-cover reprint by Springer July 2008)
This WTEC study reviews and assesses status and trends in brain-computer interface (BCI) research in academic and industry settings worldwide. This cutting-edge, highly interdisciplinary field deals with establishing communication pathways between the brain and external devices where such pathways do not otherwise exist—through both invasive and noninvasive means. Scientific advances relied on in this work and reviewed in this study include sensor technology, signal processing and analysis, neural tissue engineering, nano/microscale component miniaturization, multiscale modeling, hardware implementation, systems integration, and robotics. Working together on BCI projects are engineers, neuroscientists, physical scientists, and behavioral and social scientists.
Due, perhaps, to the significant synergies involved in the work, BCI research and commercialization efforts in the United States, Canada, Europe, China, and Japan are surprisingly well-funded, extensive, and expanding. However, the focus of BCI research is regionally distinctive and locally nonuniform. Invasive BCIs are almost exclusively centered in North America, noninvasive BCI systems are evolving primarily from European and Asian efforts, and the integration of BCIs and robotics systems is championed by Asian research programs. Much of the work in Asia and Europe is highly competitive with that in the United States, and there appear to be abundant opportunities for international collaborations in BCI and related research. / Commercial Applications of Brain-Computer Interfaces
The most immediate pragmatic goal of BCI work is to enable people with neural pathways that have been damaged by amputation, trauma, aging, or disease to better function and control their environment through reanimation of paralyzed limbs, control of robotic devices, and a number of integrated rehabilitative technologies. The broadest vision for BCI research is to develop biologically inspired systems that will push the frontier for the development of “conscious” self-adaptive systems, and even to integrate BCIs with cyberinfrastructure.
The study asserts that the influence of BCI on industry and commerce is certain to increase in the near future. Use of BCI technologies is already approaching a level of first-generation medical practice, stimulating commerce in medical devices such as those that apply functional electronic stimulation in systems designed to control movement and maintain posture by generating contractions in skeletal muscles (e.g., a shoulder joystick used to control hand opening and closing). BCI use also is accelerating rapidly in nonmedical arenas, particularly in the video gaming, automotive (e.g., measuring and compensating for driver cognitive load), and (brain-)robotics industries.
The significant synergies of BCI work on the frontiers of so many converging fields of science and technology promise an impact on science and commerce far exceeding the immediate benefits to individuals in need of neural repair and restoration of motor function. For example, evolving electrode technologies allow information from the brain to be encoded by computer algorithms to provide increasingly reliable input and control of BCI devices—but there are a number of other such interlocking enabling technologies in this field. The report sees ongoing growth in BCIs as having the potential to substantively reshape the boundaries of interdisciplinary scientific and technological research and development, with far-reaching effects on an extremely broad range of potential, yet to be defined, product applications.
At the same time, a number of studies suggest that biomedical engineering is already among the most rapidly growing university programs, is among the most promising career paths for the coming decades, and appears to be attracting a particularly diverse workforce. BCI work is likely to only reinforce and support these trends. However, more attention needs to be being paid to developing formal, BCI-specific interdisciplinary university training programs at all levels.
WTEC Study on
International Assessment of Research And Development in Rapid Vaccine Manufacturing
December 2007
This WTEC study / Findings:
The use of molecules—either singly or in small ensembles—as the elements in electronic circuits offers the opportunity to enhance and transform electronic systems. Healthcare and environmental sensors, energy harvesting and transformation technologies, and information processing and storage systems were some of the many potential applications of such systems identified during this workshop. Realizing this vision poses significant challenges to our understanding of the electronic behavior of nanoscale molecular architectures.
Current capabilities include the ability to prepare nanostructured materials and to fabricate surfaces with atomic-level smoothness. Molecules and biological species can be attached to these structures and surfaces. The physical structure and the way electrons are organized in these chemically modified structures can be characterized with current measurement tools. These nanostructures and surfaces can be connected into device prototypes. However, the local molecular environment in those devices cannot be adequately characterized with existing metrology systems. Only a crude understanding of the electronic behavior of nanoscale molecular architectures exists.
The report assesses which advances would accelerate the discovery and development process, and concludes that new approaches to attaching molecules to surfaces are required to make stable chemical systems. A wide range of molecules needs to be studied. Strategies must be developed to synthesize complex assemblies before integration into systems. Linking the function of molecules within electronic junctions and devices to the structure of the molecules in those junctions is perhaps the most important challenge. The participants felt that advances in the measurement sciences are key to realizing this structurefunction relationship. Electrical and physical metrology tools that report the geometric and electronic structure of molecules must be developed. These tools must report in real time and while the device is subject to multiple stimuli. A standard measurement platform that can easily be transported would allow researchers to compare results in a meaningful manner. A more complete understanding of these systems must be developed. Better descriptions are needed of the process by which electrical charge flows through molecules. New insights into how molecules interact with each other are needed, especially under conditions where the local environment is changing.
Recommendations: Use-inspired basic research will lead to further discovery and innovation. New strategies for self-assembly of nanoscale molecular architectures are needed. Instruments to measure electronic function and molecular structure in devices must be developed. Refined and expanded models for describing the electronic behavior of molecules are needed. This discovery and development process will require, and will help to train, a new generation of scientists and engineers with the skills to translate ideas into discovery and discovery into product. Research questions that should be pursued include the following: How can we control defects in molecular assemblies? What are the practical limitations to characterizing molecules buried in a working device? How will predictive theories be reduced to tractable algorithms? How do we formulate the response of a nonequilibrium transport process involving the discrete states of molecules with continua of the electrodes? Realizing the full potential of molecular electronics requires the joint efforts of multidisciplinary teams. Strategic partnering must be encouraged. For solutions to emerge, research and development activities must be sustained. Many efforts will benefit from working with existing nanotechnology centers and networks. High-level science and technology workshops, summer schools, and coordination activities must be supported. Industry representatives must be part of the process.
Availability: http://wtec.org/MolecularElectronics/
NSF/NIH Workshop on
Stem Cell Research for Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering
[jointly sponsored by ENG and NIH/NIBIB] / Findings:
The goals of the workshop were to bring together the thought leaders in these fields to access the state-of-the-art, to define the opportunities and challenges that are being faced, and to discern how the two communities in stem cells and tissue engineering can collaborate to accelerate and advance the scientific process with emphasis on clinical development. An important objective of this workshop was to bring together stem cell and tissue engineering/regenerative medicine researchers to help build better connections between these two communities. The results of the workshop may also be useful to the Multi-Agency Tissue Engineering Science (MATES) Interagency Working Group (IWG) of the National Science and Technology Council, in which NIH, NSF and other Federal agencies participate.
Workshop participants provided their insights into the key achievements and challenges in using stem cells for purposes of regenerative medicine in the areas of heart, vascularization, bone, cartilage, neural, liver, and skin. Participants also identified opportunities and underlying challenges within their respective specialties. Areas of research identified as needing increased attention in the future include vacularization of the scaffolds, controlling the inflammatory/immune response, biomimetic scaffold design (including both chemical and mechanical properties) and cell guidance and anchorage strategies in the context of stem cell delivery. Participants with translation expertise addressed the challenges faced in translating scientific discoveries and technology within their specialty to clinical products, market sector analysis, clinical trials development, host tissue integration, surgery, efficacy, and cost reimbursement.
Recommendations: There is a need for increased efforts along the lines of this workshop, to build better communications and collaboration between the many diverse fields of science and engineering needed to translate advances in basic developmental biology and stem cell research into practical applications, both medical and non-medical. The section of the report reviewing relevant Federal activities highlights a number of issues that will require attention by the Government in order to promote advances in this field, including appropriate levels and types of research funding, coordination between the many agencies and institutes with relevant interests and activities, international cooperation, regulatory issues, and reimbursement policies (e.g., at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CMS).
Availability: http://wtec.org/stem_cell_workshop/