Feb 11 2009
The science of nanotechnology has a strategic importance for the development of Cuban science, according to the rector of the University of Havana, Rubén Zardoya.
The importance of that sector for the island is collected in the resolution for the creation of the School of Nanotechnology of the University of Havana (NanoUH).
Doctor Ernesto Estevez, General Coordinator of the School, said that in the University, basic investigations are carried out and applied in areas like health, energy and environment.
The different centers of the University and other institutions carry out a multidisciplinary work that has given good fruits, Zardoya said.
Among them there are the capsulation of magnetic particles in the Center of Biomaterials, the structure of layers of low dimension and the insoles of nanometric growth, achieved by the Faculty of Physics, he mentioned.
The Faculty of Chemistry has created functional nanoparticules, selective electrodes biosensors selective and the capsulation of proteins, among other advances.
Cuba has published more than 200 works on nanotechnology, of which 105 have Cubans as their first authors.
Of those studies, 87 are coming from the Ministry of Higher Education and 70 belong to the University of Havana.
The Ibero-American Observatory of Science and Technology recognizes Cuba in the 6th place in production of scientific articles, which is the indicator of a country in the generation of knowledge, Estevez stated.
He also expressed that Cuba is a sui generis case in the Third World for its capacity of formation of human resources. "The countries of the Third World present financial limitations to have experimental capacity, besides problems in the formation of human resources", he told to Prensa Latina.
A nano is equal to a millionth part of a millimeter, that is why it is not at first sight observable.