Looking into Hunterdon’s Future
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This article by Barbara Fox was prepared for the October 2, 2002 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Nanotechnology: Small, Smaller Yet
Nanotechnology is the new buzz word for technology that
may not be terribly new — just much smaller. Fifteen years ago
the semiconductor experts were working with a couple of hundred nano
(atom-sized particles) at once, and now they are working with atoms
on a single nano scale. What’s that? Think of a human hair and then
think of the trunk of a redwood tree. That’s the difference between
nano scale and the scale of what you could see under a microscope.
Alexander Pechenik of Cornell University’s Nanofabrication Facility
will speak at the IEEE on Tuesday, October 8, at 7 p.m. at Sarnoff
Corporation’s auditorium. The meeting is free, but for information
call Walter Curtice at 215-369-0193.
“Features of semiconductor processing have approached the nanometer
range and therefore a new area has sprung up under the term nanofabrication
that uses the technologies developed over the last 10-15 years,”
says Gerhard Franz, who chairs the Central Jersey section of
IEEE. He notes that communications researchers and semiconductor researchers
can work together more closely on projects, now that fiber optic technology
can be deployed on a chip.
What makes nano research particularly exciting is that the “nano”
buzzword is stimulating investment. Because the state and federal
government have invested in Lucent Technologies’ nanolab, the lab
is now available for use by other companies. And the state is pouring
funds into the Picatinny Arsenal’s nanotechnology program. “As
this technology is being applied in other industries, it becomes more
interdisciplinary and more attractive to investors,” says Franz.
The arsenal concerns itself with working in materials science, whereas
the Lucent-based consortium is developing devices.
Pechenik, the Cornell researcher, graduated from Northwestern and
has a Ph.D in materials science and engineering. He has taught at
UCLA and worked at Dow Chemical Company, NIST, and the Air Force’s
Office of Scientific Research. He is associate director of the Cornell
Nanofabrication Facility (CNF), part of a network supported by the
National Science Foundation. It facilitates and supports the research
of others, and it requires no collaboration and no sharing of proprietary
intellectual property. CNF has nearly $30 million worth of equipment
and 20 members on its technical support staff. Nearly 700 users (including
300 new users) worked on nanofabrication projects this year, says
Pechenik. He will illustrate his talk with examples from the fields
of nanoelectronics, nanophotonics, optoelectronics, nanomechanics,
and biology.
— Barbara Fox
Top Of PageLooking into Hunterdon’s Future
The Hunterdon County Chamber of Commerce holds “A
Futurist Conference: Examining Infrastructure, Business, and Lifestyle
in Hunterdon County in 2012″ on Wednesday, October 9, at 8 a.m.
Merck hosts the event at its Whitehouse Station corporate campus.
Cost: $100. Call 908-735-5955.
There will be three panels, beginning with infrastructure. Martin
Matthews of RE/MAX Flemington moderates. John Kellogg of
the Hunterdon Planning Board speaks on smart growth; James Fox,
New Jersey’s Commissioner of Transportation, addresses transportation
issues; and Robert Morrill of Sprint discusses the future of
communications.
Jim Hyman of the Hopewell Valley Community Bank moderates the
second panel, which takes a look at the face of business 10 years
in the future. Saralee Pindar of the New Jersey Technology Council
speaks on emerging industries; State Senator Leonard Lance addresses
the business tax structure; and Melanie Willoughby of the New
Jersey Retail Merchants Association gives her take on the future of
the area’s retail environment.
Leading a panel on quality of life is Nancy Scott. Jeremiah
Ryan of Raritan Valley Community College speaks on education; Robert
Wise of Hunterdon Health Systems addresses healthcare; Gabrielle
Bolarakis, Hunterdon Education Services Commissioner, discusses
recreation and the arts; and Alison Mitchell of the New Jersey
Conservation Foundation looks at the future of open space and farmland
preservation.
While it is not on the agenda, the conference telegraphs a change
corporate workers throughout the state may well see within the decade.
A brochure advertising the event reads: Please be advised that the
Merck & Co. Inc. campus is an entirely smoke-free environment.
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