January/February 2008

The Nanotechnology Institute™ (NTI) makes a big deal out of small things. In the process, it has broken down large barriers to nanotechnology commercialization, particularly in the Philadelphia area—a mighty feat for building blocks measured on a molecular scale. Nanotechnology, or technologies manufactured and manipulated at the nanometer scale (one billionth of a meter), stands to transform the competitive landscape across multiple industrial sectors, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, food processing, manufacturing and defense.

The Nanotechnology Institute incorporates 12 academic research institutions centered around a common framework of technology development, intellectual property (IP) management, sponsored research and commercialization partnerships, and new company formation.

In 2000, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/SEP), the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University created the NTI. Today, with core funding from Pennsylvania's Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority, the NTI has grown into a comprehensive organization incorporating 12 academic research institutions centered around a common framework of technology development, intellectual property (IP) management, sponsored research and commercialization partnerships, and new company formation.

A Catalyst for Commercialization
"The goal of the Nanotechnology Institute is to be a catalyst for the development and commercialization of nanotechnology in the region and to identify and develop ways to overcome the barriers to commercializing the technology," says RoseAnn B. Rosenthal, President and CEO of BFTP/SEP. "We navigate these barriers, providing incentives for people to think differently and giving them the motivation to try different things."

Nanotechnology was met with some skepticism just a few short years ago, but today it is being greeted as one of the key economic drivers of the 21st century. In 2005, nanotechnology was incorporated into more than $30 billion in manufactured goods. By 2014, Lux Research estimates $2.6 trillion in manufactured goods—or about 15 percent of the total global output—will incorporate nanotechnology.

The NTI is proud to be at the forefront of this tech revolution. "As little as three or four years ago, people were still looking at us and saying, 'Nanotechnology is just a bubble, it's not real,'" Rosenthal says. "Nobody is saying that today. When the NTI first started, very few community colleges and high schools had nanotechnology as elements of their curricula. Today, so many of them incorporate nanotechnology that the NTI no longer needs to lead this effort. The goal was to get nanotechnology on everyone's agenda—and that's happening."

Transforming the Southeastern
PA Region
From the very start seven years ago, the NTI initiative differed from Ben Franklin's usual endeavors. "It wasn't about funding a single company or project—it was creating a strategy around a technology that has the potential to transform the region," Rosenthal says.

Rosenthal developed the original concept paper for the NTI during a quiet time over the holidays at the Ben Franklin office. "We had been having these nano forums around the region, and they kept gaining momentum, so we knew something was going on out there with nanotechnology," she says. "Then we had an all-hands-on-deck meeting here with the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, other regional universities, young companies interested in the technology, our board, DCED, and we brought in the chief operating officer of the National Science Foundation."

Because of Ben Franklin Technology Partners' neutral stance, the universities looked to it to coalesce the group and lead the development of a nanotechnology partnership. The core team, BFTP, the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University, moved at lightning speed, getting a first state grant and forming the NTI only four months after the first discussions began. Today, Penn and Drexel universities are more engaged in the NTI than ever before, and both schools have named nanotechnology a strategic priority. Penn, for example, is building a $90 million nanotechnology facility.

A Productive Partnership
"The NTI has been unique in that it brought together the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University to focus on a very new area of interface between research and commercialization," says Kenneth J. Blank, Ph.D., Vice Provost for Research at Drexel University. "From the very beginnings of this new field, our researchers were able to focus on the applications of their technology, and we had a head start in the region because of the involvement of Ben Franklin in commercializing that technology. The NTI has been outstanding for the university environment in Philadelphia as well as the region in general."

Steven J. Fluharty, Ph.D., Vice Provost for Research at Penn, agrees. "The NTI allows Penn investigators to engage in close and meaningful collaborations with some of our region's leading nanotechnology researchers and allows the university to better partner with entrepreneurs and industry when important discoveries emerge," he says. "The NTI serves as an important vehicle in leveraging our complementary strengths to potential commercialization partners."

The NTI continues to innovate as it matures and evolves—the results speak for themselves. The NTI has helped produce more than 80 IP assets, facilitated seven technology licenses, created or assisted 13 young companies and attracted more than $172 million in public and private investment to the region.

Creating a Collective New Vision
The NTI road hasn't always been smooth, but it has led to great things, both for the field of nanotechnology and the Philadelphia area. "The challenge was the scale and the complexity of the project," Rosenthal says. "The way that the NTI is performing today is not exactly the same as it did seven years ago, but that's to be expected and desired. It is a model that continues to evolve as our understanding of the challenges and opportunities of this technology deepens."

Rosenthal says the NTI can serve as a model for other emerging fields as well. "The NTI will continue to break new ground and encourage new ways of thinking about technology commercialization across the board," she says.

Visit the NTI website here.

Anthony Green, Ph.D.
Ben Franklin Director, NTI
Vice President of Technology Commercialization: Life Sciences, BFTP/SEP

Robert Carpick, Ph.D.
University of Pennsylvania Principal Investigator, NTI
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, University of Pennsylvania

Kambiz Pourrezzaei, Ph.D.
Drexel University Principal Investigator, NTI
Professor, School of Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences, Drexel University

Erli Chen, Ph.D.
Director, Nanotechnology Commercialization Group, NTI
Director of Nanotechnology Licensing, Center for Technology Transfer, University of Pennsylvania

Image: Biomorphic silicon carbide from pine wood (Gleb Yushin, Ph.D.)