A distinguished panel of nanotechnology experts will address the topics of
nano-safety when they gather at the nanotxUSA
Conference/Expo, October 2-3, at the Hyatt Regency Dallas convention hotel.
The issue of safety in nanotechnology is being reported in a number of tightly
focused areas. Specific applications or research directions will be evaluated
with the concerns for their special niche. "The question that everyone
is interested in is 'what are the potential problems that may arise,' and how
can society be protected?," said Dr. Walt Trybula, of Texas State University-San
Marcos, who organized and will chair the panel. "This is a two hour session.
The panelists will provide their perspective from the view of the European community,
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Industry."
This extremely important topic is of interest to technologists, corporate executives,
educators, and the general public. It will be open to all attendees of the conference.
The panelists will provide their vision of the risks, means of mitigating them,
and the responsibilities implicit in working in nanotechnology. These presentations
will be followed by one addressing Risk Management. This will then be followed
by a question and answer session. There is a one hour networking session scheduled
following the end of the panel, so discussions can continue after the official
end of the program.
“The ‘take-away’ from this session is to develop an understanding
of the potential risks,” said Trybula, “and to provide the means
of mitigating them, finding efforts that can be taken to protect people and
the environment, and a starting point of where to go to find assistance.”
The panelists include a roster of the best brains on the subject: Dr. Dianne
Poster – NIST [leadership in nanotechnology]; Dr. Zvi Yaniv – Applied
Nanotech, Inc. [implementation of a safety program in industry]; Catherine Crago
– SemiconGroup [cultural issues with safety efforts]; Dr. Dominick Fazarro
– Sam Houston State University [Educational efforts in NANO-SAFETY]; Dr.
Robert Blaunstein – Nanotech Risk Management, LLC [risk management]; Chair
Dr. Walt Trybula, is an IEEE Fellow, SPIE Fellow, and Director of the Nanomaterials
Application Center at Texas State University-San Marcos.
“The issue of the impact from nanotechnology on people and the environment
has been receiving increasing coverage in the press,” said Richard Mason,
General Manager of nanotxUSA’08, “with the expansion of nanotechnology
into our society we are constantly getting questioned about the safety of applying
technology and that is why nanoxUSA has brought together these experts. The
schedule is available at our website, www.nanotxUSA.com”