I am happy to report that the long awaited book:”Planning, Funding and Evaluating Nanotechnology Initiatives and Centers" is available on the web as of October 24. The book contains a planning, funding and evaluation strategy, for initiatives and centers.
The new book also includes a table of odds that helps the regional initiative planner determine the odds for the regions success, and whether or not to start-launch initiatives, or put ones energy into another field --as high-tech ferries, or recreational facilities. Among the items to consider are the number and type research universities and knowledge-based companies in the region. But---- Not all research universities are alike. What is important is the ranking on technology transfer, and number of startups, spun out companies, and nanotechnology publications and citations in Journals such as Small Times.
While the amount of federal funding in nanotechnology is also important, the university must rank high on technology transfer. For these reasons I'd rank Florida, Florida State, Michigan State ahead of the University of Chicago, Georgia Tech and Purdue. Columbia University on the other hand is a leader in both research and technology transfer. Of the foreign universities, I'd go with Imperial College, London, and Tokyo University. Tokyo University is a leader in publications, but also strong in technology transferred. Future newsletters will provide information on safety, health and educational issues surrounding nanotechnology research and impact evaluation and cost-benefit analysis.
