IOM’s NanoSafety Materclass at the 2nd NCEM-1 meeting

The 2^nd meeting of the 1^st Nano-Carbon Enhanced Materials (NCEM-1) consortium has taken place on 18th and 19th July 2012 in Dalmahoy Marriott Hotel and Country Club in Edinburgh, the Scottish Baronial Manor set in 1000 acres of parkland and one of Scotland’s premier golfing venues (www.marriottdalmahoy.co.uk).

NCEM-1.2 Edinburgh meeting venue

The morning session started with the “Masterclass in NanoSafety: The health, safety & business risks in nanotechnology innovation and how they can be addressed” delivered by Dr Steve Hankin and Dr Craig Poland from the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) from Edinburg in Scotland. This was followed by the panel discussion. After the lunch the meeting delegates had an opportunity to hear Dr Kyle Kissell, Director of Technology Development from NanoRidge, USA who presented recent development to incorporate highly conductive carbon nanotubes into copper metal that resulted in a composite material with superior properties, higher electrical conductivity and increased current carrying capacity, as compared to conventional copper. His presentation was followed by presentation from Dr Francesco Bonaccorso from University of Cambridge about graphene applications in electronics and an update about European FP7 NMP 2013 call for collaborative R&D proposals given by Dr Bojan Boskovic.

Dr Kyle Kissell, Technology Development Director from NanoRidge Materials commented after the meeting:

 “I believe that consortia like this are a critical step towards bridging the gap between extraordinary science and products commercialization. We feel privileged to be invited to speak to a group that is interested in DOING something as opposed to just TALKING about something. The connections we created during the two days of interactions will be crucial for the success of our products and our company.”

The 1^st NCEM-1 Cambridge meeting delegates, speakers and guest came from: University of Cambridge (UK); Nokia Research Centre (UK); ST Microelectronics (Italy); International Copper Association (USA); Nexans (France); Bosch (Germany); Codelco (Chile), Thales UK (UK), National Grid (UK), Trinity College Dublin (Ireland). They were joined for the 2^nd NCEM-1 meeting by delegates, speakers and guest coming from: Arup (UK), Institute of Occupational Medicine (UK), Manchester University (UK) and NanoRidge (USA).

For further details and information how to join the consortium please contact Dr Bojan Boskovic who is a leader of the consortium: Bojan.Boskovic@cnt-ltd.co.uk or Bojan.Boskovic@cfbi.com.