Nano-good--and a call to Cleveland

A hotbed of scientists, professors and industry players--that's what Cleveland is this week, starting when nearly 300 attendees took part in the Nano-App Summit as part of NanoWeek.

More than half of the attendees were from outside Ohio, according to Chris Mather, executive director of NanoNetwork and organizer of the Summit. He said 15 countries were represented, including Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Netherlands, Germany, France and others.

At lunch yesterday I asked my seatmate, a Ph.D. polymer chemist from the Netherlands, if it had been worthwhile for him. Definitely yes, Dr.Ir. Sicco de Vos said. He felt he'd learned a few things from the industry speakers--those out there actually applying nanotech in their business models--that he would take back for discussion at his own company, Akzo Nobel, located in Arnhem and specializing in health care, coatings, and chemicals.

Tech transfer directors from Cornell, Case, Pittsburgh, Cleveland State and other universities were in attendance to explain how they could help bring research to commercial markets. Mark Brandt told stories of how his venture capital company, The Maple Fund, works with tech and nanotech companies startups and entrepreneurs to get them properly situated for best access to resources (he loves Cleveland but often recommends Boston and Silicon Valley).

Another story was a little less inspiring. One participant, a chemist with EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company) in Munich, Germany had asked me on Monday if he could take a tour of NASA. I told him I thought the organizers would be able to work that out for him. Unfortunately, I learned later that he had called NASA himself and been turned down--though he could easily have done so through the Summit sponsors. Then I found that while walking downtown, he'd been concerned about whether Cleveland was safe because he and his companion saw so few people--and most of those looked less than savory. He ended up not being able to shop because he wasn't sure where to go. Next, he tried to rent a car and was turned down because his driver's license was in German.

So, instead of staying for the rest of the conference, this first-time visitor to the United States hopped a bus to Canada to visit Niagara Falls. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels bad that his experience was so disappointing. It just points up that we still have work to do to make our city as welcoming as we'd like it to be perceived.