By Jim Dukart
NanoCon Show Daily

Sept. 22, 2006 — Two of Thursday’s afternoon sessions at NanoCon 2006 featured lively discussions on nanotechnology as it is currently being applied to and thought of in the areas of energy and telecommunications.

The energy panel discussed promising developments to help reduce fossil fuel dependence, or at least make fossil fuels more efficient and hopefully help ameliorate global warming. Energy efficient lighting using nanotechnology was another hot topic, with Paul Burrows of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory pointing out that today’s artificial lighting tends to be rather inefficient in terms of energy use.

Hydrogen production and storage was also discussed, as were advances in battery technology. All panelists pointed to interesting developments to watch in the energy sector, arguing that this particular area is ripe for technological breakthroughs. Panelist Eric Burnett, president and CEO of Applied NanoWorks, may have even come up with a new tag line for the nanotech industry as a whole.

“I always think of it as science on steroids,” he quipped.

The nano in telecommunications presentation featured the development of printed electronics, including printed displays, sensors, power sources and radio frequency ID tags. Daniel Gamota, director of the Printed Electronics Platform at Motorola, also talked about the way nanotechnology is improving “wickedly cool devices” such as iPods, cell phones, digital cameras and large-screen flat-panel television screens, all of which are delivering features few had considered probable just a few short years ago.

Gamota also showed a brief movie highlighting some future developments in electronic printing, showing ads on the side of product boxes and buses that feature three-dimensional, moving images, clothing or accessories such as handbags that can change color depending on a person’s whim and a spoilage indicator on a carton of milk that constantly monitors and reports on its contents.