Enable IPC -- Companies Involved in Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology can apply to anything from tennis balls to medical
testing. It has been hyped as the next great thing and has been the
target of funding in research laboratories for years. The question has
lately been, as a manufacturing process, how real is it today? The
answer is, in some ways, very real.

In 2002, Nano Investor News reported that their database had identified
490 companies involved in nanotechnology. At this writing, that same
website reports 939 companies. In addition, a press release from Lux
Research in August 2004 reports that 1500 companies have announced
their intentions to be involved in nanotechnology. These include 1200
startups.

The field is growing dramatically. As you can see from the table below,
companies using nanotechnology are engaged in a wide range of
industries.:

The majority of these are good companies that are striving to bring better,
less expensive products to the marketplace. But, as some recent articles
have suggested, not all may have the same, pure motivation.

The "Nano-Pretenders"

It seems that many companies that call themselves “nano” companies
do not actually qualify as true nanotechnology companies. In a recent
Forbes article, Josh Wolfe discussed the sharp increase in nano
companies in recent years and portrayed many of the new nano
companies as “nano pretenders”. While discussing some of the
shortcomings of apparent “major” nano players, Mr. Wolfe described
others as "hype". He wrote of the desire of companies in the past to
use "tech" and "dot-com" in their names to spruce themselves up for
Wall Street. Today, the word is "nano". (Beware of Nano Pretenders,
Josh Wolfe, Forbes, August 1, 2002)

Generally speaking, companies and researchers are considered to be
working in the world of nanotechnology when they are dealing in sizes
less than 100 nanonmeters (nm).

Our market research found that many of the companies simply do not operate in the true nano world,
but are, instead, working in small-scale manufacturing. Some may be using the “nano” term as a ploy,
but more likely the majority are simply using the term to describe the fact that they work with very small
things.

Some Diverse Nanotech Companies

The following companies are a very small sample of the many diverse areas where nanotechnology is
changing manufacturing and use:

BASF, worldwide: pigments
C-Sixty, Houston, TX: medical devices
GeneFluidics, Monterey Park, CA: electrochemical molecular analysis devices
Hitachi, Japan: semiconductors
InMat, Hillsborough, NJ: tennis ball parts
JR Nanotech, London, UK: nanosilver for health care
Konarka Technologies, Lowell, MA: electronics
Liquid Minerals Group, Montgomery, TX: fuel oil treatment
Lumera, Bothell, WA: polymer materials
NanoTex, Greensboro, NC: fabric protection
Nantero, Woburn, MA: computer memory
NEC, Japan: carbon nanotubes, etc.
NIC Industries, White City, OR: ceramic coatings
Ntera, Dublin, Ireland: flat panel displays and medical devices
Reade Advanced Materials, Providence, RI: nanowires, fibers and particles
Sony, Japan: fuel cells
Tetronics, UK: carbon and nanopowders
Zyvex, Richardson, TX: nanomachines and molecular manipulation

In addition, there are many large, well-known companies that have been identified as utilizing
nanotechnology to improve their diverse products, including:

Of course there are many others, but this sampling should provide the reader with an idea of the many
ways nanotechnology is benefiting us and will benefit us all in the future.