Graphene Stakeholders Association (GSA) formed

I’m not sure why a new not-for-profit association is needed to promote graphene since that nanomaterial is receiving ample interest these days. My reservations notwithstanding, a group of business types disagrees with me and have formed the Graphene Stakeholders Association (GSA) according to the Apr. 19, 2013 news item on Azonano,

A new non-profit organization was launched this month to promote the responsible development and commercialization of graphene and graphene-enabled products. The Graphene Stakeholders Association (GSA) is a 501(c)6 enterprise headquartered in Buffalo, NY.

The GSA’s founders include Keith Blakely, a 35 year veteran of the advanced materials and nanotechnology community, Dr. Alan Rae, CEO of the Nano Materials Innovation Center, Vincent Caprio, Executive Director of the NanoBusiness Commercialization Association, and Stephen Waite, Managing Partner of SoundView Technology Group. Mr. Waite and Mr. Blakely will serve as co-Executive Directors of the GSA.

Here are some of the activities the GSA is planning, from the website’s Mission page,

The GSA will work primarily by regular web conferences timed for the convenience of members and will hold at least one plenary conference per year to review progress and develop action plans.

The GSA intends to collaborate closely with the NanoBusiness Commercialization Association and to organize meetings and presentations around certain of their events to enable our members to make the most efficient use of their time with respect to technical and business conference meetings.

It seems to me the proposed GSA plenary conferences are likely to emerge as a conference held within the context of  the larger NanoBusiness Commercialization Association’s conference. I think it’s an emerging trend whereby there’s a conference portal and within that context one or more conferences, which will attract likeminded attendees, are grouped together under one banner and have either overlapping dates or are run on parallel dates in the same locations.

The site does offer some interesting information. For example, there’s this from their Graphene Industry Information page,

China has published more graphene patents than any other country, at 2,204, ahead of 1,754 for the U.S., 1,160 for South Korea, and 54 for the U.K.

South Korea’s Samsung has more graphene patents than any single company.

Nokia is part of the 74-company Graphene Flagship Consortium that is receiving a €1 billion ($1.35 billion) grant that the E.U. announced in January 2013.

Nokia, Philips, U.K. invention stalwart Dyson, weapons and aerospace company BAE Systems, and others have committed £13 million ($20.5 million) to a graphene development center [Cambridge Graphene Centre as per my Jan. 24, 2013 posting] at Cambridge University, to go along with £12 million ($18.9 million) from the British government. [Also, there’s a new National Graphene Institute being built in Manchester, UK {my Jan. 14, 2013 posting}.]

….

Graphene is prohibitively expensive to make today. As recently as 2008, it cost $100 million to produce a single cubic centimeter of graphene.

Researchers are working on methods to reduce the cost of manufacturing and help make graphene a ubiquitous fabrication material.

Graphene film companies face major commercialization hurdles, including reducing costs, scaling-up the substrate transfer process, overcoming current deposition area limitations, and besting other emerging material solutions.

GSA is looking for members from around the world according to the Apr. 19, 2013 news item on Azonano.

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  1. Pingback: Graphene and the next step according to ID TechEx « FrogHeart

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