Key Factors for Achieving Sustainable Nanotechnology Products

Established corporations and tier suppliers have a crucial role in infusing life cycle thinking for sustainable nanotechnology products by accelerating responsible development, integration and roll-out of fast-maturing first and second generation nanotechnologies into commercial products and processes. Under sponsorship from the National Science Foundation, the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS), a not-for-profit cross-industry consortium, has undertaken three consecutive thematic cross-sector nanotechnology readiness assessments of the U.S. manufacturing industry over the last decade to study the impact of the National Nanotechnology Initiative. Conducted in 2003, 2006 and 2009, the overarching objective of these surveys was to study entrepreneurial initiatives in commercializing nanotechnology across key industry sectors, such as materials/chemicals, aerospace, automotive, defense, electronics, energy, instrumentation, and medical manufacturing.

In 2013, NCMS has launched its fourth industry study to assess the potential for realizing triple-bottom-line sustainable nanotechnology products. Comprised of an online questionnaire targeting senior executives, and supplemented by confirmatory interviews, the new study aims to document the “technology-pull” processes used by large manufacturers, as assessed across 20 strategic metrics of commercial readiness, including scalability, collaboration, open-innovation, integration and new nano-product introduction processes. The proposed presentation will present preliminary results and indicative trends in commercialization best practices.