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Policy and Infrastructure for the Exploitation of Micro-Nano Technology A high-level, international conference on Policy and Infrastructure for the Exploitation of Micro and Nanotechnology was held at Cranage Hall in Cheshire, England on 6 June 2003. The major one day conference, sponsored by the Northwest Development Agency (NWDA), and the Micro and Nanotechnology Commercialisation Education Foundation (MANCEF) featured key international experts from the USA and Europe. It was attended by an audience of over 75 people, including leaders from Government and regional development agencies, businesses, industrial companies and research organisations. They were presented with policy, infrastructure, commercialisation challenges and opportunities. Quotes: David Tolfree, Director Technopreneur Ltd and Vice President MANCEF, who organised the conference said: ''Companies, regions and nations who invest in micro and nanotechnology will be the leaders in the new economy. This conference, the first of its kind in the UK, emphasised that full commercialisation requires an infrastructure that provides a seamless path from research and development to product manufacture and commercialisation. The exploitation of micro and nanotechnology offers unrivalled opportunities to generate new products and services that will change the way people will work and live in the future.'' John Burrows, NWDA Director of Business Development, said: "The global market for microproducts is growing at an immense rate, and is currently estimated at £40 billion. The NWDA recognises that the economic and social consequences for a market this size are unprecedented and cannot be ignored. An infrastructure for micro and nanotechnology will significantly contribute to regional economic development, and I am pleased that we were are able to offer our support." For further information please contact Lisa Margis, Press Officer on 01925 400205 or 07980 713272 or Lisa.Margis@nwda.co.uk, or David Tolfree, 01925 264347, d.tolfree@dl.ac.uk About the Northwest Development Agency The Northwest Development Agency (NWDA) is responsible for the sustainable economic development and regeneration of England's Northwest and has 5 key priorities: Business Development, Regeneration, Skills & Employment, Infrastructure and Image. What is Micro- and Nano-Technology? Micro- and nano-technologies (MNT) allow the creation of functional devices with extremely small dimensions less than one-hundredth of the width of a human hair. These include sensors, biomedical diagnostics, wireless transmitters, video cameras and projectors, etc. They are the offspring of silicon-chip processing offering immense and diverse capabilities in very small packages. Think of your mobile phone and shrink it even further and further! That is what is round the corner! Nanotechnology The drive towards minaturisation is moving beyond the micro-metre into the nanometre (one thousandth times smaller) domain, with the promise of a revolutionary new approach to every man-made or man-mediated external influence on our lives. This is bourne out by a recent US government statement suggesting that it regards nanotechnology as "the next industrial revolution" with potential impact on most industry sectors and the announcement that it planned to invest some $US500 million in nanotechnology. © MANCEF - Micro And Nanotechnology Commercialization
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