Contact: Pender M. McCarter, APR, Fellow PRSA, Communications/PR Director
Phone: +1 202 785 0017, x8353
E-mail: p.mccarter@ieee.org

IEEE-USA Hails Congressional Passage of
"Nanotechnology Research & Development Act"

WASHINGTON (20 November 2003) — Passage today by the U.S. Congress of The Nanotechnology Research and Development Act will "help fuel future economic growth, enhance public health and the quality of life, as well as sustain U.S. leadership in science, engineering and technology" said Jim V. Leonard, president of IEEE-USA. "Nanotechnology research and development is in its infancy, but the promise of nanotechnology to usher in a new industrial age is unquestionable," Leonard added. Nanotechnology can be described as the observation and manipulation of materials at the molecular and atomic levels.

The U.S. Senate approved the nanotechnology bill on 18 November, followed by the U.S. House of Representatives today, on 20 November. The legislation is expected to be signed into law by President Bush. The Act creates a National Nanotechnology Research Program to support long-term nanoscale R&D, increase America's competitiveness in nanoscale technology, and promote effective education for the next generation of nanotechnology professionals.

The legislation authorizes $3.7 billion to be spent over the next four year for such agencies as the National Science Foundation, Energy Department and NASA. It also requires a panel of experts to advise the President on nanotechnology issues. In addition, a new American Nanotechnology Preparedness Center will be established to study the potential effects of nanotechnology.

According to IEEE-USA President Leonard, "Over the next decade, nanotechnology will lead to significant advances in electronics, defense and homeland security, agriculture, communication, biology, diagnostic medicine and structural." He noted that innovation stemming from advancements in nanotechnology could lead to new generations of microelectronics that have the capacity to store information equal to the Library of Congress, as well as point to prosthetic and medical implants that are molecularly designed to interact with cells of the human body.

Both IEEE-USA's R&D Policy Committee and the IEEE Nanotechnology Council previously endorsed the legislation. IEEE-USA's position on nanotechnology is available at www.ieeeusa.org/forum/positions/nanotechnology.html. Earlier this year, the IEEE cosponsored a congressional luncheon briefing on understanding nanotechnology, highlighted at www.ieeeusa.org/forum/Events/Nanobriefing03/index.html.

IEEE-USA is an organizational unit of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers created in 1973 to advance the public good while promoting the careers and public-policy interests of the more than 235,000 electrical, electronics, computer and software engineers who are U.S. members of the IEEE. The IEEE is the world's largest technical professional society. For more information, go to www.ieeeusa.org.

| Top of Page | News Releases | IEEE News | IEEE | IEEE-USA |

Last Updated: 10 November 2003
Staff Contact:  Chris McManes, c.mcmanes@ieee.org