GW nano school

George Washington University establishes GW Institute for Nanotechnology, announced Nov. 19. Backed by special endowment funding set aside for academic programs "with the potential for a high level of intellectual distinction," institute will facilitate collaborations among engineering, physics, chemistry and biochemistry faculty members. Sixteen professors are involved in initial projects, including developing a system for nanopatterning and scanning tunneling microscopy, studying growth of carbon nanotubes, creating computational mechanical modeling of nanomaterials, researching nanomagnetics and constructing filtration with nanostructure materials, university says. "National laboratories, federal agencies, and private sector corporations all recognize the as-yet untapped potential for discoveries in this emerging field, and we believe that our engineers and scientists will be among those who unlock some of its exciting secrets," says David Dolling, dean of GW's School of Engineering and Applied Science. While nanotechnology holds great promise in areas ranging "from medicine to electronics to improving water quality worldwide," as Dolling notes, it represents novel risks as well; some consumer groups are calling for tighter FDA oversight and greater transparency from companies (1"The Rose Sheet" Nov. 10, 2008, p. 3)