Nanotechnology is a relatively new materials science that is slowly beginning to revolutionize many sectors of manufacturing. Few consumers or business executives realize the extent to which nanotech, over the mid-term, is going to change the materials they use everyday. As of 2011, so much progress has been made in nanotech research and development that commercialization is set to accelerate. One factor boosting the adoption of nanotechnology is an increase in the manufacture and availability of carbon nanotubes, a basic nanomaterial that can be used in a wide variety of manufactured goods. These nanotubes have been shown to have highly valuable qualities, including incredible strength. As nanotube supplies increase and costs drop, use will increase significantly.

Investment in nanotechnology research and the market for nanotech products have expanded steadily. Analysts at Cientifica estimate that global funding of nanotechnology research by governments totaled $9.75 billion in 2009. The U.S. government alone budgeted more than $1.8 billion in nanotech research grants and projects for fiscal 2011, up from only $464 million in 2001. Lux Research estimated that $382 billion in products containing some nanotech components would be sold globally in 2010, growing to $2.5 trillion in 2015.  Nanotechnology is clearly coming of age at last.

The Japanese government is in the top ranks of nanotech funding, along with the U.S. Meanwhile, the European Nanotechnology Trade Alliance (ENTA) boosts the nanotech industry in Europe, where funding is very substantial, and Asian governments from China to Singapore to South Korea and Taiwan are big supporters.

Nanotechnology is generally defined as the science of designing, building or utilizing unique structures that are smaller than 100 nanometers in size (a nanometer is one billionth of a meter). This involves microscopic structures that are no larger than the width of some cell membranes.  A human hair is about 100,000 nanometers in width. In particular, nanotech may involve the manipulation of materials on the atomic level so that they take on new characteristics, such as increased strength or resistance. (“Nano” comes from a Greek word for dwarf or pygmy.)

MEMS, another branch of technology involving extreme miniaturization, refers to a very exciting field in microelectronics. Specifically, we define MEMS as “Micro Electro Mechanical Systems,” micron-scale structures that transduce signals between electronic and mechanical forms. Both MEMS and nanotech are today’s leaders in the long-term trend of greater and greater miniaturization of electronics and other systems.

Estimates of the size of the MEMS market vary. Analysts at research firm IHS, Inc. estimated the global market for MEMS devices at $7.7 billion for 2011.

Nanotechnology has applications in fields such as semiconductors, biotechnology, solar power, chemistry, automotive systems, apparel, coatings, robotics and aerospace. The result will be new ways to solve problems and create products, based on the use of micro components.

Over the next few years, the fastest-growing commercialized uses of nanotechnology will most likely be in coatings, including advanced paints used in extreme environments; specialty chemicals; aerospace; electronics; pharmaceuticals and other health care technologies; and textiles. As the technology matures, many more uses will be commercialized.

The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (www.nanotechproject.org) listed more than 1,300 items in its 2010 inventory of consumer products that have a nanotech component, up from 475 in 2007 and 209 products listed in their initial March 2006 inventory. The list includes health and fitness items (such as cosmetics, sunscreens and sporting goods), food and beverage products, home and garden items and electronics and computer products.

MEMS technology is widely utilized. A contemporary use of MEMS affecting consumers is the micro switch installed in passenger-side airbags in automobiles. These MEMS switches must be accurate enough to determine when, and at what level of strength, a collision occurs, and then set off the inflation of the air bag quickly enough to protect passengers before the collision’s impact reaches them.