Issue



Table of Contents

Solid State Technology

Year 2007
Issue 2

OPINION

Column


Remembering why size matters

During the past couple of weeks I have heard the comment, “size doesn’t matter,” from a variety of sources.


Legal Corner


Why the difference between risk and hazard matters for nanotechnology

Scientific progress is a balancing act: Weigh the empirical evidence and determine the appropriate balance between allowing new technologies and protecting public health.


Letter From The Editor


Dear reader

“[Nanotechnology] is becoming real a lot faster than I was anticipating,” says Feynman Prize-winning researcher Stan Williams, whose work is profiled in this issue’s Q&A feature.


FEATURES

Survey


Compensation trending upward

As micro- and nanotechnologies begin to mature, industry salaries increase


Cover Story


Power microscopy for the masses

A new breed of sophisticated, low-cost microscopes is enabling new vision for industry and academe


Qampa


HP research results satisfy Williams

Stan Williams and his colleague Greg Snider at HP Labs in Palo Alto, Calif., have completed research that could lead to making field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) up to 8x denser-while using less energy for a given computation-than those currently being produced.


Small World


It’s all fun and games

Gaming for the greater good is the higher purpose of PlayGen’s managing director Kam Memarzia, one of the founding members of the London-based interactive media company that uses game technology for learning rather than just entertainment.


TECHNOLOGY

Rampd Updates


R&D UPDATES

Small tech for food safety applications, a high-voltage CMOS process with embedded flash, an interstellar compass, and more…


Innovations


Large-ish nanotech breaks barriers in drug delivery

A team of researchers at Johns Hopkins University has demonstrated a new way to slip drug-bearing nanoparticles through the body’s protective shields of mucus while surprising even themselves with just how big these microscopic delivery vehicles can be constructed.


Innovations


3D MID circuits enable device miniaturization

MEMS technology has been used to gain significant improvements in a number of electronic and industrial applications, but until recently, the area of electronic circuitry has been neglected.


Innovations


Automated research: Not just for pharma

Nanotech development is beginning to benefit from methods popular in the pharmaceuticals industry


SPECIAL-REPORTS

Small Tech Meets Lsquoim


Small tech meets ‘impossible’ defense goals

Aerospace systems engineers are famous for their tendency to levy impossible specifications on materials and components.


Another Labrsquos Treasu


Another lab’s treasure

Nanotech start-ups are finding great deals on used semiconductor processing equipment that can be altered to fit their needs


BUSINESS-SENSE

Finance


Equity financing & Acquisitions


Patent Trends


Nanotech’s David and Goliath tale

As Goliath Ltd. prepares to debut its nanotech-enabled product, the David Co. brandishes its slingshot full of patents


State Rankings


State Rankings

The fifth category - work force - of our state rankings shows few surprises. The density of the East Coast and the engineering clusters around national labs play a big factor in pushing certain states ahead.