** MEDIA ADVISORY **
National nanotechnology initiative to be topic of
congressional hearing

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 28, 2005 – Subcommittee on Research tomorrow will hold a hearing to examine the findings and recommendations of the recent assessment of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) and will hear from the nanotechnology community on how U.S. research and business activities in nanotechnology measure up to those of international competitors.

 The hearing will examine the following overarching questions:

·        What is the position of U.S. research and development and U.S. businesses in nanotechnology relative to that of other countries?  What key factors influence U.S. performance in the field, and what trends exist among those factors?

·        Which fields of science and engineering present the greatest opportunities for breakthroughs in nanotechnology, and which industries are most likely to be altered by those breakthroughs in both the near-term and the longer-term? 

·        What are the primary barriers to commercialization of nanotechnology, and how can these barriers be overcome or removed?  What is the federal government’s role in facilitating the commercialization of nanotechnology innovations, and how can the current federal nanotechnology program be strengthened in this area?

 Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Subcommittee on Research – Hearing
Nanotechnology: Where Does the U.S. Stand?
10:00a.m. – 12:00p.m.
2318 Rayburn House Office Building (WEBCAST)

Witness List:

• Mr. Floyd Kvamme is the Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a high-technology venture capital firm. 
• Mr. Jim O’Connor is Vice President of Technology Incubation and Commercialization at Motorola, Inc. 
• Mr. Sean Murdock is the Executive Director of the NanoBusiness Alliance. 
• Mr. Matthew M. Nordan is the Vice President of Research at Lux Research Inc., a nanotechnology research and advisory firm. 

The charter for today’s hearing is attached to this advisory.  For more information, please contact the Science Committee press office at 202-225-4275.

All Full Committee and subcommittee hearings and markups are webcast live on the Committee website: www.house.gov/science.  The website also includes an archive of webcasts from previous hearings. 

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