Researchers to Discuss "Golden Era" of Nanotechnology at Futurist Conference— July 29th, Hilton Minneapolis

Nanotechnology, or the manipulation of objects one billionth of a meter in size, is approaching a "golden era," according to Raj Bawa, president of Bawa Biotechnology Consulting. "Although the full potential of nanotechnology will ultimately be realized in the distant future, basic research in nanoscience is rapidly producing commercially viable products," says Bawa. "In fact, governments and industries across the globe are investing billions of dollars in research. Clearly, international rivalries are growing and political battle lines are being drawn. In 2005, governments, corporations and venture capitalists globally spent almost $10 billion (U.S.) on nanotechnology R&D while emerging nanotechnology was incorporated into more than $30 billion in manufactured goods. Given this backdrop, the potential future impact of nanotechnology could be huge."

Bawa will share his insights as part of an international symposium,
"Nanotechnology: Innovations and Opportunities" at 10 AM on Sunday, July 29, at WorldFuture 2007, the annual conference of the World Future Society.

www.wfs.org

The conference will take place July 29-31 at the Hilton Minneapolis, (Minneapolis Minnesota). Bawa will be joined by an international expert panel, including Charles W. Boylen of Darrin Fresh Water Institute; Orlando Auciello of Argonne National Laboratory; Rutledge Ellis-Behnke of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Drew Harris of the firm Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody; Stephen B. Maebius, editor-in-chief of Nanotechnology Law & Business; Alan Minsk of the firm Arnall, Golden & Gregory; Sander Rabin of the Saratoga Technology Accelerator, Convergent Technology Patent Law Group; and Chiming Wei of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and editor-in-chief of the journal Nanomedicine.

Founded in 1966 as a nonprofit educational and scientific organization in Washington, D.C., the World Future Society has some 25,000 members in more than eighty countries around the world. Individuals and groups from all nations are eligible to join the Society and participate in its programs and activities.

The Society holds a two-day, international conference once a year where participants discuss foresight techniques and global trends that are influencing the future.

Presenting at this year's conference: Gregory Stock of the UCLA School of Public Health; Helen Fisher of the Rutgers University; Tor Dahl, founder, president and CEO of Tor Dahl associates; Nat Irvin II of Wake Forest University; and dozens more from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, MIT, eBay, the Inter-American Development Bank and others. Registration for the conference is $600.

For information about WorldFuture 2007, contact the World Future Society at 1-301-656-8274 or e-mail Patrick Tucker, WFS director of communications, ptucker@wfs.org, or Susan Echard sechard@wfs.org , vice president of membership and conference operations; or check the World Future Society's Web site www.wfs.org .