Tag Archives: Easter Island

Nanotechnology and Easter Island

There’s going to be an international nanotechnology conference on Easter Island, June 4 – 8, 2013,

[Downloaded from http://cedenna.cl/en/]

[Downloaded from http://cedenna.cl/en/]

A May 29, 2013 article by Kate Manning for The Santiago Times, describes Chile’s interest in nanoscience and nanotechnology,

The director of CEDENNA (Universidad de Santiago de Chile’s Center for Development of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology), Dora Altbir, said the conference will link Chilean students and young researchers with the most cutting-edge nanotechnology today and allow them to connect with leading scientists.

The director said she wants the conference to “broaden the study of nanoscience and nanotechnology in Chile, since all developed countries and many developing already conduct studies and have advanced in these disciplines.”

But broadening the study demands heftier investment. Chile allots US$4 million annually to develop nanotechnology. Comparatively, the United States and the European Union spend about US$3.7 trillion and US$1.2 billion respectively. Brazil spends US$1 billion.

Chilean politicians, the gatekeepers of public funds, often mention their goal for Chile to become a developed nation by 2016. Dangling a carrot, Altbir champions nanoscience as a field where Chile could distinguish itself in the scientific community and as a developed nation.

The conference, being organized by CEDENNA. has attracted some accomplished scientists. From the May 27, 2013 CEDENNA news release,

The conference led by the Center for the Development of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (CEDENNA) of the Universidad de Santiago de Chile will bring together leading academic scientists, researchers and students from Europe, Asia and the Americas to exchange and share their experiences and results on diverse themes related to this groundbreaking field of science.

The first week of June, the eyes of the scientific world will be focused on “the navel of the world” (Te Pito or Te Henua) given that for the first time an International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, EINC 2013, will take place on Easter Island.

That a Conference will be held in Easter Island is no small thing. At present nanoscience and nanotechnology are at the center of groundbreaking research around the world owing to the fascinating advances that basic science is achieving in this area and the technological benefits they bring.

The Easter Island Conference on Nanoscience (EINC2013) will bring together in Chile world-class scientists from the fields of physics, chemistry and the material sciences to share their knowledge and discuss their research in nanoscience and nanotechnology.
The conference, which will take place June 4 – 8, 2013, will include the participation of two Nobel Prize winners and around 100 academic scientists, researchers and students from three continents.

Among the scientists invited to the conference are Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Nobel Prize winner, 1997, from the École Normal Supérieure de Paris, France, Dan Shechtman, Nobel Prize winner, 2011, from Technion, Israel, Kornelius Nielsch from the University of Hamburg, Germany and Myriam Sarachick from City College of New York, USA. [emphasis mine]

(I briefly mentioned Shechtman in a May 8, 2013 posting where I noted that he’d been a pariah within his scientific community for several years. Scroll down to the last paragraph for the mention.)

I am delighted to be able to publish something about Chile and nanoscience. I have this is the first of many future mentions. You can find out more about EINC2013 here.