Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

A big deal about small ideas

A nanotech conference could help sell the Tampa region to the industry.

By DAVE GUSSOW
Published August 28, 2006

Hundreds of the world's experts on micro and nanotechnology will gather at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort this week to talk shop.

The gathering will give the Tampa Bay region and the University of South Florida an opportunity to sell themselves to an international audience as emerging tech players.

The very technical sounding Commercialization of Micro and Nano Systems Conference provides an opportunity for the area to show off its assets to an international audience of about 300 researchers, businesses and government officials working on emerging technologies that hold enormous potential.

The region has attracted various trade shows, but this one is high tech and unusual.

"I don't believe we've had anything here like that," said Carol Steele, business development manager at USF's Center for Ocean Technology. "I think it's an indication that this community, meaning this city, this region, this state, are coming of age as both a national player and an international player in these areas."

Steele played a key role in bringing the conference here - she's also vice president of the sponsoring organization, the Micro and Nanotechnology Commercialization Education Foundation www.mancef.org.

Nano and micro use atoms and molecules as building blocks to make everything from stain-resistant clothing to microscopic filters for medicine and pollution control to tiny sensors for homeland security defenses. A nano is a billionth of an inch.

The conference has been held in recent years in Amsterdam; Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; and Baden-Baden, Germany. Next year, Melbourne, Australia, focuses on taking the science from the research lab to market.

For the Tampa Bay area and USF, it's an opportunity to get in on the early stages of the field. USF recently opened a $4-million Nanomaterials & Nanomanufacturing Research Center.

"The single-most promising cluster that St. Petersburg has for developing high-end and high-tech employment has to do with water," said Don Shea, president of the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership. "A lot of the technology in nano has applications in water."

That could mean everything from microscopic sensors to protecting ports from attacks to better filters for water systems.

The downtown partnership did not donate cash to bring the conference here; rather, it helped with conference logistics.

To apply to bring the conference here, Steele had to raise $35,000 in seed money from Progress Energy, the Tampa Bay Partnership and USF, among others. Unaxis is hosting a facility tour and dinner tonight.

"It takes about $400,000 to put on a conference like this," Steele said. "The rest of the money comes from other sponsorships, selling exhibitor booths, and also from registration."

For the Tampa Bay Partnership, helping to bring in conferences such as this one is key to attracting industries and jobs. Visits help overcome what Chris Steinocher, vice president of marketing and strategic direction for the partnership, calls Florida's "halo effect" about its economy's reliance on tourism, sunshine and retirees.

"We know if we get people here, we overcome the first hurdle of the perception of our market," Steinocher said.

Said Steele: "The schmooze factor at this conference is very impressive."

Dave Gussow can be reached at dgussow@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4165. Read his blog at www.sptimes.com/blogs/tech.

[Last modified August 27, 2006, 21:14:51]