Skip to primary navigation Skip to content
May 18, 2005

Hooley: Nanotechnology Will Leave Virtually No Product Untouched

Washington, DC - Ranking Democratic Congresswoman Darlene Hooley (OR-5) and colleagues on the House Science Committee’s Subcommittee on Research heard testimony today about cutting-edge nanotechnology research and ways to commercialize this research, showcasing the leading role played by Oregon universities and businesses in developing this innovative technology.

ONAMI - the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnology Institute - is a partnership of Oregon government, universities, and businesses that is leading the world in industrial "small tech" research and development.  The Subcommittee, which received a report on the National Nanotechnology Initiative today, heard from John Cassady, vice president for research at Oregon State University, about the progress of the ONAMI initiative and the potential of nanoscience research.

"Nanotechnology will have enormous consequences for the information industry, for manufacturing, and for medicine and health.  Indeed, the scope of this technology is so broad as to leave virtually no product untouched," said Hooley.  "I am proud to showcase the leading role researchers in Oregon are playing in developing this technology."

"These technologies will have widespread commercial application and may well lead to whole new industries," Cassady said at today's hearing.  "Three words describe ONAMI: innovation, collaboration, and commercialization.  The Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute is the first 'signature research center' funded by the State of Oregon for the purpose of growing research and business development in order to accelerate innovation-based economic development in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest."

A National Research Council report explains that nanotechnology is "the ability to control and manipulate atoms, to observe and simulate collective phenomena, to treat complex materials systems, and to span length scales from atoms to our everyday experience, provides opportunities that were not even imagined a decade ago."

Related Subcommittees