The University of Colorado's Business Research Division is developing a "road map" for nanotechnology in Colorado.
The project was commissioned by the Colorado Nanotech Initiative, which received about $308,000 in federal and state funding earlier this year. The U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration provided $130,000, the Governor's Office of Economic Development and International Trade kicked in about $50,000, and the rest is in-kind contributions from the state and CU, said Gary Horvath, an analyst with CU's research division, which is part of CU-Boulder's Leeds School of Business.
Howard Gelt, chairman of the nanotech initiative, said the project would receive $90,000. The 10-month project should be wrapped up in August 2006, Horvath said.
Horvath envisions the finished product to be similar to the state's 2003 bioscience action plan, which was put together by the Battelle Memorial Institute, a Columbus, Ohio-based $1 billion research and development nonprofit organization.
The first part of the project, Horvath said, includes focus groups and surveys "to identify companies that are working in nanotech and to see what some of their needs are."
Another early stage involves putting together an ad hoc advisory council to help compile questionnaires, he said. The council will "touch all aspects of the (nanotech) cluster in Colorado" from federal labs to private and public universities to companies, Horvath said.
Horvath is still in the process of confirming advisers, but he said members so far include Linda Bowman, president of Aurora Community College; Debbie Woodward of Adams County One Stop Career Centers; Roop Mahajan, professor of mechanical engineering of CU; and Arlen Meyers, professor of otolaryngology at the CU Health Sciences Center in Denver.
Horvath will compile an inventory of the nanotechnology assets in Colorado including what classes are offered, what equipment is available, what the companies in the field are working on as well as identifying gaps.
Also, he will assess nanotech assets in neighboring states like New Mexico, Kansas, Utah and Arizona.
"When it comes down to issues of congressional funding, Colorado has only seven votes, but if we can show we are working with New Mexico or Arizona we may be able to get additional support," he said.
The project will be good for the university in many ways, Horvath said, especially research. According to Horvath, Stein Sture, interim dean of CU-Boulder's graduate school and vice chancellor for research, told him during the past 10 years CU-Boulder has completed more than 110 nanotech-related projects.
"I think one of the things about nanotechnology that people don't realize is that it has been around a while and ... crosses many segments of the economy."
Four undergraduate business students are working on the project, and one graduate student may come onboard, Horvath said. He may hire engineering students if their help is needed. The students, who work 10 to 15 hours per week and often full time during breaks, make about $10 per hour on average.
"They are pretty committed to the research, and when they leave they will have learned a tremendous amount," he said.
The nanotech initiative is searching for an executive director via a "word-of-mouth search," Gelt said. The position is advertised in Small Times magazine, a nanotechnology trade journal.
Chris Shapard, bioscience director at the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, is coordinating the search, he said.
Members of the search committee include Gelt, an attorney with the Denver firm of Shughart Thomson & Kilroy; Randy Levine, president and chief executive of Denver-based Zettacore Inc.; Rahmat Shoureshi, dean of the University of Denver's School of Engineering and Computer Science; and others, Gelt said.
Once an executive director is hired the initiative will be housed in the state-funded Advance Colorado Center in the World Trade Center in Denver. The center is a headquarters for fledgling nonprofit associations and business support programs including CTEK Venture Centers, the Colorado Film Commission, Colorado Software & Internet Association, Colorado BioScience Association, Colorado Environmental Business Alliance/P3 Colorado and Colorado Alliance for Microenterprise Initiatives.