Two of the pieces that go to make up Singapores nanotech hub were put in place on Friday with the opening of two new centres. The first opening was at NanoFrontier where the new nanometrology centre was officially inaugurated, along with Japanese partners Mitutoyo, Sumitomo, and of course Cientifica Singapore. The new centre gives partners access to state of the art metrology and fabrication facilities hosted at Singapore’s Nanyang Technical University. Given that acess to much of the metrology equipment, often costing over half a million dollars, isn’t particularly easy for most small companies, and can be a risky purchase for many large ones, Nanofrontier is an excellent way of getting that access.
The second piece in the jigsaw was the official opening of the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, part of Singapore’s flagship Biopolis project, and something that we have been particularly excited about. Given that most of what we are attempting to achieve in nanotechnologies involves attempting to figure out how nature has already solved problems, and merging nano and bio is definitely the way to go. In the past year we have seen an increasing trend towards nanobio, and a gradual shift in power away from physicists.
It’s no coincidence that Cientifica’s chief scientist is a chemist with a background in drug delivery.