Symposium on the Social Studies of Nanotechnology

More than 175 people attended the "industry dialog" event on the "Social Studies of Nanotechnology" co-hosted June 8 by the Mack Center and Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) and held at CHF in Central Philadelphia.  This event asked, what are the economic, political and social issues raised by nanotechnologies?  What dialog should business managers engage in to develop, manage and market the intriguing array of emerging nanotechnologies? This event, organized by Dr. Cyrus C. M. Mody and Wharton Prof. Sarah Kaplan, featured panels and discussions on emerging issues that will help shape the nature of emerging nanotechnologies. 

Sarah Kaplan   moderated the first of three panels that provided the basis for a dialog on a wide variety of emerging nanotechnology issues.

A wide variety of insights were presented by speakers and panelists, and a variety of issues were raised by the audience.  It was observed that Nanotechnology is the only "industry" that defines itself by scale.  More than 500 products currently use nanomaterials.  Safety issues are just beginning to be identified, such as how the human immune system handles nanoscale particles and materials.  It was noted by several panelists that the public needs to be involved early in the discussions and debates involving nanotechnologies, to avoid misperceptions -- and most people still do not have a clear understanding of nanotechnology..

Approximately 60 academic researchers representing representing economics, science, social studies, management and other disciplines attended the academic conference on Social Studies of Nanotechnology, held June 7 at the Wharton School.   The event was organized and hosted by Sarah Kaplan (Wharton School) and Cyrus Mody (Chemical Heritage Foundation).  Prof. Harbir Singh, Co-Director of the Mack Center, welcomed the group.

Academic researchers presented working papers on a variety of research topics based on several themes:  Analogies and genealogies of nanotechnology (looking at microelectronics and biotechnology); Evolution of specific nanotechnologies (spintronics and carbon nanotubes); Forces shaping nanotechnology evolution (the state, the publics); and What can the social sciences bring to nanotechnology and what can nanotechnology bring to the social sciences? 

A few of the papers presented included: "Molecular Electronics and the Microelectronics Origins of Nanotechnology" (Hyungsub Choi and Cyrus C.M. Mody, Center for Contemporary History and Policy, Chemical Heritage Foundation; "The Nanotech vs. the Biotech Revolution: Sources of Productivity in Incumbent Firm Research" by Frank Rothaermel and Marie Thursby, Georgia Tech.; and "Structuring Intellectual Property: The Case of Carbon Nanotubes" by Michael Lounsbury and P. Devereaux Jennings, University of Alberta.   Senior faculty from several leading universities provided commentary on the presentations.  In addition, nanotechnology posters were provided by several Ph.D. students including Augustin Cerveaux, Nina Granqvist, Mary Ingram-Waters and Byoungyoon Kim. A few pictures from the day's activities are included here: