Nanotechnology conferences usually come with a price tag of between $500 and $2000 for registration, not to mention travel and lodging. Now Purdue University has put together an all-day conference that' s free and open to the public. To be held at the university' s new $58 million Birck Nanotechnology Center, the event is highlighted by a panel discussion kicking off Purdue's Discovery Lecture Series, titled "Transforming Society Through Emerging Technologies: National Nanotechnology Initiative at Five Years." The National Nanotechnology Initiative, formed in 2000, sparked the federal government's decision to bolster funding for the emerging fields of nanoscience and nanoengineering.

I' ll be there, and so will Mihail "Mike" C. Roco, chairman of the U.S. National Science and Technology Council's subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering and Technology, as well as many other leading nanotech experts.

"Purdue now has the most advanced facility on a college campus in this country, and possibly the world, exclusively designed for nanotechnology research," said conference coordinator George Adams, research development manager for the Birck Nanotechnology Center. "Through this conference, Purdue can provide the spotlight on what nanotechnology research can do to improve our lives and bolster indiana's high-tech economy. These are some of the most impressive minds in the world on nanotechnology coming to Indiana."

Panelists will cover everything from how to start a nanotech business and its advancements in treating cancer to the potential for venture capital funding and nanotechnology's applications in health-care delivery and electronics products.
The conference will begin at 1 p.m. Feb. 6 with a panel of national journalists who cover science, business and technology issues. Each panelist will give a 10-minute presentation about nanotechnology and then take questions from the audience.

The inaugural Discovery Lecture Series, "Transforming Society through Emerging Technologies: NNI at Five Years," led by Roco then begins at 3 p.m. The first half of the Discovery Lecture Series focuses on the transformation of nanotechnology in society. At 5:30 p.m. Purdue President Martin C. Jischke will welcome a panel of experts that will focus the discussion on public interest issues in nanotechnology - from health care to ethics and policy.