Author Archives: Walt

About Walt

I have been involved in various aspects of nanotechnology since the late 1970s. My interest in promoting nano-safety began in 2006 and produced a white paper in 2007 explaining the four pillars of nano-safety. I am a technology futurist and is currently focused on nanoelectronics, single digit nanomaterials, and 3D printing at the nanoscale. My experience includes three startups, two of which I founded, 13 years at SEMATECH, where I was a Senior Fellow of the technical staff when I left, and 12 years at General Electric with nine of them on corporate staff. I have a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, an MBA from James Madison University, and a B.S. in Physics from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Vacuum Tubes

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Walt | Permalink 0

This might seem like an unusual topic for nanotechnology.  The vacuum tube was the centerpiece of electronic advancement prior to solid state devices.  Their application was incorporated into [..]

Electronics, Science

A Name Change?

Posted on December 29, 2015 by Walt | Permalink 0

The usage of the term “nano” appears to be decreasing. There is an increase in the usage of “Advanced Materials” and “Emerging Technology.” Is this a sign of [..]

Misc Ramblings, Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology progress

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Walt | Permalink 0

Challenges are not uncommon in developing new technologies. The current topics that are most in the publications are medical nanotechnology and the so-called two dimensional materials. Electronics constructed [..]

Nanotechnology

Water Purification

Posted on October 30, 2015 by Walt | Permalink 0

About one in six people in the world do not have access to water and one in three do not have adequate sanitation. There is much work being [..]

Nanotechnology, Nanotechnology Health

Graphene-like Materials and Temperature

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Walt | Permalink 0

One of the benefits of the interest in nanomaterials and graphene in particular is that the tools for investigating the material properties and the means for producing the [..]

Nanotechnology

The Issue with Graphene

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Walt | Permalink 0

Graphene is a “two-dimensional” structure of carbon atoms.  One explanation is that if you cut a carbon nanotube and unrolled it, you would have graphene.  It properties are [..]

Nanotechnology, Nanotechnology Safety

Sorting Wheat from Chafe

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Walt | Permalink 0

There is considerable activity in the world to develop regulations on nanomaterials. The questions that need to be asked is on what basis are these specifications being developed. [..]

Misc Ramblings, Nanotechnology

A coming medical revolution?

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Walt | Permalink 0

If you have been reading technology news recently, you probably noticed that there is a lot of interest in the development of the Star Trek tricorder. There is [..]

Nanotechnology, Nanotechnology Health

An interesting trend in electronics

Posted on May 29, 2015 by Walt | Permalink 0

While there is much being published about the continual shrinking of electronics, there are a number of other activities that have been developing. One of the efforts is [..]

Misc Ramblings, Nanotechnology

Memristors

Posted on April 26, 2015 by Walt | Permalink 0

This blog is a slight variation from the typical nanotechnology ones. The frequency of the mention of memristors has been increasing. Memristors are novel components of circuits which [..]

Electronics, Technology