The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Nanotechnology `offers productive career for youth'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 12, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Nanotechnology `offers productive career for youth'

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, JUNE 11. Nanotechnology, the science of creating highly miniaturised machines that work at the molecular level, has arrived and holds the promise of a fulfilling career for young persons, the Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education, R. Natarajan, said today.

Nano-materials, nano-robots and molecular level energy systems, sensors, and customised drugs would all change the way people perform everyday tasks. They would alter the way illnesses are treated and lead to more wholesome and nutritious foodstuff being produced. They also provide a new economic opportunity for India, Dr. Natarajan said, while inaugurating a two-day national workshop on the subject organised by Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering.

He said development of nanotechnology initiatives was high on the national agenda. The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, had a month ago made a presentation himself on the emerging scientific, research and economic opportunities that nanotechnologies held out for India, the AICTE chairman added.

Looking into the futuristic and strategic technologies that would change life in the world in the next five to 10 years, Dr. Natarajan said intelligent systems and synthetic body parts could become a reality soon.

In the new technology era, youngsters must develop multi-tasking capabilities, meaning able to do more than one or two things simultaneously. However, Dr. Natarajan cautioned youngsters about certain unreasonable expectations that the new technologies were creating in their minds.

For example, youngsters today felt that learning was an easy task and accessing information was knowledge by itself. Learning could never be an easy task. Gathering or accessing information could never be equated to acquiring knowledge. A teacher was not displaced so easily. The big sacrifices made by pioneers were behind the present development in India, he noted.

According to the conference organising secretary, D.K. Muthiah, miniaturisation enabled development in all spheres. Two approaches were possible in designing nano-devices and systems. "For one, we can start with atomic and molecule size building blocks. The other is creating sophisticated ones that could be implanted or etched into wearable technologies."

Application of nanotechnology and nano-science in fields of computations, robotics, VLSI design, design of sensors and new materials/devices, and design of new age drugs and molecular level medical robots were topics being discussed at the two-day meet.

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