Small Times magazine ranks State of Illinois eighth for nanotechnology

Small Times magazine has ranked the State of Illinois eighth on its list of leading nanotechnology states. The ranking is based, at least partially, on the quality of the state’s university programs.

"One of the best rankings was attributed to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which had four stars in research and education, and four-and-a-half stars in facilities," wrote Michael Rosen in a Web article. Rosen is president of Rosen Bioscience Management, and is founder and a board member of the Illinois Biotechnology Industry Organization.

Up to five stars are awarded in each of four categories: education, research, facilities, and commercialization. The annual survey of nanotech rankings by state, which for the 2007 rankings was actually carried out last year, features evaluation categories including venture capital, industry cluster, research, innovation, and workforce. The rankings were summarized this year in a special report in the July/August 2007 issue, and incorporate scores previously reported across five issues of the publication.

Illinois ranked eighth in nanotechnology research, seventh in microtechnology research, and ninth in microtechnology commercialization. For overall rankings by category, Illinois came in at number three for research, as well as for education, and second for facilities.

In the May/June 2007 edition, Small Times, a leading business magazine devoted to micro- and nanotechnology, reported the strength of Illinois lies with its more than 16 major centers and laboratories, making it an "unparalleled multi-disciplinary environment for cutting-edge basic and translational research." The data compiled by the Small Times focused on four primary centers at the University of Illinois: the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Materials Research Laboratory, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, and the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory (MNTL). The MNTL recently had an $18 million expansion so that it is now a "user facility that is one of the nation’s largest and most sophisticated university-based centers of its kind."

ECE Professor Kent Choquette, interim director of the MNTL, said the state allowed for the $18 million expansion because of the University’s long history of nanotechnology work. "The state decided to invest in [the MNTL] based on our history, based on our track record, and our legacy of excellent research," he said. "Frankly, the reason for that investment is to try to increase some of these other areas like venture capital and industry in Illinois. The state is looking for us to lead that. Now it’s incumbent upon us to follow through...to continue in doing our cutting-edge research and also to try to develop more of the economic side of things."

Small Times wrote that Illinois "reported the greatest number of professors and the greatest number of grad students doing research in both MEMS and nanotechnology - separately and combined."

Choquette said he would like to emphasize that although Small Times just released its rankings in nanotechnology, Illinois has a long history in nanotechnology.

"[We have] been a leader in microelectronics and nanoelectronics even before ‘nano’ was a buzzword," said Choquette. "Some of the capabilities we have predate this nanotechnology initiative that they started. We have been doing nanotechnology in [MNTL] for as long as the building has been open. It’s just that it became fashionable to call it ‘nano’ after 2000." The building was renamed in 2001 from the Microelectronic Lab to the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory.