Tag Archives: Small Times Magazine

Dec. 15, 2005 — Oxonica plc, a European nanotechnology group, announced that it signed an exclusive agreement with Croda, a global speciality chemicals group, to distribute Oxonica’s Optisol UV absorber into the international personal care market.

Optisol was launched in 2004, and is currently incorporated within the Boots Soltan Facial range of products. Oxonica said that over the past year it has focused on increasing the awareness of Optisol within major cosmetic houses and that it has achieved several successful evaluations.

The partnership with Croda is geared towards crystallizing some of the early evaluations, the company said. Croda will provide its sales channel and technical expertise to broaden the commercialization of Optisol, with an initial focus on the Americas, Europe and Australia.

Dec. 15, 2005 — Akrion Inc., an Allentown, Pa., provider of single-wafer and batch-immersion cleaning systems, said it recently received an order for multiple cleaning systems from a new customer in Asia.

The systems, slated to begin shipping from now through to 2006, will be used to reclaim 300mm wafers at the customer’s plant in Taiwan. Akrion will ship both a GAMA i-clean batch-immersion and a Goldfinger Mach2MP single-wafer cleaning system.

Dec. 15, 2005 – PolyFuel Inc., a develop of nano-architectured fuel cell membranes, announced a new, thinner fuel cell membrane that delivers improved power levels for passive direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs).

PolyFuel says its new 45 micron-thick hydrocarbon membrane delivers 33 percent more power than the previous industry benchmark, the company’s 62-micron membrane, which is currently being used or analyzed by original equipment manufacturers.

The reduced thickness increases performance by reducing the resistivity of the membrane, while allowing a higher level of water back diffusion.

“PolyFuel has been working very hard with OEMs to refine its membrane technology to meet their specific needs,” said Jim Balcom, president and CEO of PolyFuel, in a prepared statement. “Perhaps the most requested feature has been a thinner membrane that retained the methanol crossover, water crossover and durability advantages of our 62-micron membrane, while meeting aggressive, new fuel cell performance targets.”

Balcom also said that in Japan PolyFuel is working with six major corporations that are developing DMFC systems, including NEC and SANYO Electric. Of these six, five are already evaluating the 45-micron membrane for near-term commercial use, including conducting durability and performance testing.

– David Forman

Dec. 15, 2005 — Semitool Inc., a Kalispell, Mont., supplier of wafer processing equipment, announced the installation of its third Raider platform at CEA Leti Nanotec in Grenoble, France.

The company said the single-wafer system will allow CEA Leti to develop and deploy 45nm and 32nm processes for copper interconnect-related applications on 300mm wafers using the latest Semitool electrochemical deposition system.

Semitool previously supplied two Raider systems to CEA Leti, one of which is an advanced front-end of line cleaning system for 200mm and 300mm wafers, and the other a plating system for copper interconnects.

Dec. 14, 2005 — Acusphere Inc. (NASDAQ: ACUS), a Watertown, Mass.-based specialty pharmaceutical company that develops new drugs and improved formulations of existing drugs using its proprietary microparticle technology, announced that Rick Walovitch has been promoted to senior vice president of clinical research, effective immediately. Walovitch has served as vice president of clinical research at Acusphere since 1997.

During his tenure at Acusphere, Walovitch has directed all functions of Acusphere’s clinical operations and is responsible for developing and implementing the clinical strategy for AI-700, currently in Phase 3 clinical trials.

Dec. 13, 2005 – Nano Chemical Systems Holdings Inc. (OTC.BB:NCSH), a Nevada nanomaterials maker, announced the successful laboratory testing of a new product intended to kill and inhibit the regrowth of mold and fungus inside structures.

The company says the product is non-toxic and that it expects it to be long lasting when applied to interior surfaces. Over the next few weeks it said it will file a patent. Nano Chemical Systems Holdings Inc. is in the process of developing products using titanium dioxide which can be delivered in an aerosol container.

Dec. 13, 2005 — Advance Nanotech Inc. (OTC.BB:AVNA), a provider of financing and support services for nanotechnology research and companies, announced financing for epi-CNT, a new research project based out of the Center for Advanced Photonics and Electronics (CAPE) at the University of Cambridge, England.

The epi-CNT project — short for epitaxial growth of carbon nanotubes — will explore the development of a new method for the controlled growth of single wall carbon nanotubes that the company says could be both inexpensive and precise.

The investment was made in partnership with CAPE, an integrated research facility for electrical engineering with a staff of 20 academics, 70 post-doctoral researchers and 170 research students. The center is designed to encourage research activities to proceed to development and exploitation in close collaboration with industry.

Dec. 12, 2005 — The Foresight Nanotech Institute announced on Friday the appointment of Marc Lurie as president. Lurie succeeds Scott Mize, who will return to the for-profit sector, according to a Foresight release.

Prior to joining Foresight, Lurie was a founder and chief executive of @hand, a software and services company in the mobile computing and communications area. As CEO, Lurie established customer relationships with Fortune 500 companies, built long-term partnerships with large system integrators, and raised three rounds of financing totaling more than $21 million.

An intellectual property lawyer by training, Lurie previously worked with a variety of technology startups, including Acuity (acquired by what is now Avaya), where he served as the senior marketing executive for nearly three years, and Vignette (VIGN), where he was director of channel marketing.

Outgoing president Mize joined Foresight in the summer of 2004 as the organization shifted its focus to include coverage and analysis for nearer-term commercial nanotechnology. He oversaw the launch of its Technology Roadmap for Productive Nanosystems, built relationships with industry and research institutions, focused the organization on a group of organizing principles and began an effort to revitalize its annual awards.

Lurie is expected to continue those initiatives. Christine Peterson, founder and vice president of policy and research at Foresight, said in a prepared statement that she expected Lurie’s background in intellectual property, international law, and business development to help to advance Foresight’s mission.

– David Forman

Dec. 12, 2005 – Veeco Instruments Inc. (Nasdaq: VECO), a supplier of instrumentation to the nanoscience community, introduced the BioScope II, an atomic force microscope (AFM) designed to facilitate advanced bioscience research.

The device is designed to deliver ranges suitable for imaging large structures (e.g., cells), as well as for matching cell or sample sizes to scan areas and correlating AFM data with optical/fluorescence images.

The company says setup is fast and easy, even for complex perfusion experiments. A soft-sealed environmental/perfusion chamber and sample heater allows sensitive biological samples to be maintained and imaged under physiological conditions by controlling the chemistry of the fluid and gaseous environment.

Dec. 12, 2005 — Rice University has named James Tour as director of the Rice Carbon Nanotechnology Laboratory and Matteo Pasquali as co-director, according to Rice News, the university’s faculty and staff newspaper. They succeed the lab’s founding director, Rick Smalley, who died in October.

Tour is Chao professor of chemistry, professor of mechanical engineering and materials science and professor of computer science. Pasquali is associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering. Both worked closely with Smalley and specialize in carbon nanotube research.

The lab is currently working on more than a half-dozen efforts ranging from basic to applied research, according to the report. It also provides nanotubes to other fullerene research labs.