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.

Nano-toxicity IS NOT Nano-Safety

Posted on June 7, 2014 by Walt | Permalink 0

There have been some recent mentions of nano-toxicity as being nanotechnology safety.  There are Government requests for review of proposed documents regarding either nano-safety or nano-toxicity.  The way [..]

Nanotechnology Health, Nanotechnology Safety

Graphene is a hot topic, but what are we missing?

Posted on May 24, 2014 by Walt | Permalink 0

Recent articles [1, 2, 3, 4] show that people are interested in producing graphene in many differ ways.  The referenced articles provide descriptions of various means of manufacturing [..]

Nanotechnology, Technology

Science and Bullying?

Posted on April 15, 2014 by Walt | Permalink 0

Are these two themes related?   There are claims that nanotechnology causes various types of diseases, can cause defects in humans and animals, and will cause long term issues [..]

Nanotechnology Risk Management, Science

Nanotoxicity is NOT Nano-Safety

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Walt | Permalink 0

There are a number of comments and articles currently floating around that push the importance of Nanotoxicity.  First, I will raise my typical question.  Why does anyone care [..]

Nanotechnology Risk Management, Nanotechnology Safety

Nano Silver and Graphene

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Walt | Permalink 0

There are two separate topics in this blog: Nanosilver and Graphene.   Nanosilver is back in the news.  The headline from a recent web article [1] states: Research into [..]

Nanotechnology, Technology

Metamaterials

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Walt | Permalink 0

What are metamaterials?  Why are they important to nanotechnology?  There was a recent article in the IEEE Spectrum Magazine that addressed the customization of material structures [1].  Meta [..]

Metamaterials

Nanotechnology and Future Bionics

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Walt | Permalink 0

There is a recent report [1] of an amputee with a bionic hand being able to feel texture and shape of objects in his grasp.  This was a [..]

Nanotechnology, Nanotechnology Health

Carbon Nano Tubes (CNTs) are in the news again

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Walt | Permalink 0

CNTs are again a popular subject for predicting doom if they continue to be applied in products.  The article that started the line of thought in last week’s [..]

Nanotechnology, Technology

NANO – BOO! Be afraid, be very afraid

Posted on January 11, 2014 by Walt | Permalink 0

This blog is on how some people try to raise fear about things nano.  The title of this blog is inspired by Karl Schwarz in a response to [..]

Nanotechnology Risk Management, Nanotechnology Safety

A Technology Coming Soon to Nano – Part 2

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Walt | Permalink 0

In yesterday’s blog, the topic of 3-D printing was raised.  The blog finished with the promise that today we would cover the 3-D printing application to food.  Isn’t [..]

Nanotechnology