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Nanotechnology is often compared with the coming of IT.
It's got the potential to become a revolutionary technology,
but that remains to be seen. At the least, it is a question
of an important new technology," says Professor Päivi
Törmä of the Nanoscience Center.
In spite of the enormous potential, Törmä warns
about placing unrealistic expectations on the commercialization
of nanotechnology. "Too great expectations and 'creating
a bubble' should be avoided."
Long journey to becoming a product
Nanotechnology is expected to bring improvements in areas
such as materials, electronics and the development of medicines.
Products lined up range from consumer electronics to construction
and clothing materials and new medicines. Nanotechnology embraces
a wide field.
"Some applications are already on the market, but products
will only come from many fields of nanoscience in the long
term," Törmä points out. "In many areas
of technology the journey from being a scientific find made
in the research laboratory to becoming a profitable product
lasts 20 years."
Nanosciences in the same building
Jyväskylä is called the Mecca of Finnish nano research.
The University's 13-million-euro Nanoscience Center (NSC)
houses ten professors, about a hundred research workers, new
research laboratories and a corporate incubator.
Törmä, who was in charge of the Center until the
end of February, says that the core of the NSC's operations
is the interdisciplinary nano research. The NSC brings together
uniquely under one roof and in the same laboratories research
workers from all the three natural sciences directly associated
with nanoscience: physics, biology and chemistry.
"The aim is top-grade research in nanoscience, training
those who hold Masters and Doctors degrees covering a wide
range of nanoscience and natural sciences to be of service
to research institutes and industry, and the creation of a
favourable environment for companies to exploit nanoscience,"
Törmä says.
Window to nanotechnology
One of the floors in the NSC is reserved for companies. Office
and laboratory premises are leased not only to companies involved
in nanotechnology but also to companies that benefit from
the proximity of the university and natural sciences and from
the special characteristics of the premises.
There is room for about ten companies. The first have already
transferred their operations to the new premises. Start-ups
have the opportunity to engage in product development and
even small-scale serial production in the premises. For companies
interested in development in the field, the Center offers
a window to nanotechnology.
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Smaller and more efficient
Professor Päivi Törmä's fields of research
are nano electronics and molecular electronics. Törmä
studies the implementation of electronics using increasingly
smaller components such as the conductivity of DNA through
nano electronic methods.
"The world needs increasingly efficient data processing,
memories and sensors. Molecular electronics is 10 to
100 times smaller than the present electronics. A large
packing density and small energy consumption can make
increasingly advanced data processing possible for different
applications," Törmä says.
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www.chem.jyu.fi/nanoscience
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