Nanotechnology: Time Line of Achievement

Photo courtesy of William J. Clinton Presidential Library.

2000: Nano in the 21st Century

The quest to obtain major government funding for nanotechnology spanned almost a decade and two presidencies. Members of several federal agencies began meeting informally in the winter of 1996 to better coordinate nanoscale scientific research on a federal level. Two years later, the team was officially recognized as the Interagency Working Group on Nanotechnology, and its purpose was outlined: to conduct workshops and studies to define the state of the art in nanoscale science and technology and to forecast possible future developments.

The Interagency Working Group on Nanotechnology drafted a plan for an initiative in 1999, and it was officially approved by the Clinton administration and referred to as the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). The NNI consisted of five major funding themes: provide long-term fundamental research; identify grand challenges that are essential for advancement for nanotechnology; create research centers and networks; improve research infrastructure; and raise awareness of ethical, legal, and social implications of nanotechnology research.

The NNI culminated in 2003 when the Bush administration passed the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act to provide more funding for nano R&D over the next four years. The NNI’s annual budget for 2007 is $1.4 billion distributed amongst 13 federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, and the National Institutes of Health.

Recent achievements in nanotechnology funded in whole or in part by the NNI include quantum dots, nano-electro-mechanical sensors, nanocomposite energetic materials, prototype molecular electronics data storage devices, and nanoparticles for water contaminant removal.