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.

A coming disruption in technology? Part 1

Posted on May 31, 2019 by Walt | Permalink 0

There have been many years since the 1998 announcement of carbon nanotube transistors.  The hope has been for the semiconductor industry to create a means of producing a [..]

Nanotechnology, Semiconductor Technology

Nanotechnology is spreading its wings

Posted on April 30, 2019 by Walt | Permalink 0

Nanotechnology has been around for a while.  There have been lots of promises resulting in a few solid applications, a number of promising medical advances, and a number [..]

Nanotechnology

Move over “Nano”, “Pico” is coming.

Posted on March 31, 2019 by Walt | Permalink 0

Nothing remains on top (or at the bottom) forever.  “Pico” is three orders of magnitude smaller than “nano”.  A rule-of-thumb is that to be able to manufacture or [..]

Nanotechnology, Science

The Challenges of Reproducible Research

Posted on February 28, 2019 by Walt | Permalink 0

Twice last year, April and November, this blog addressed fake science.  That challenge has not gone away based on recent news articles.  But if one assumes the research [..]

Nanotechnology Risk Management, Science

Two-dimensional materials’ research opening new opportunities

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Walt | Permalink 0

There have been some interesting reports in the last year that indicate there is a growth in interest and a branching out in nanomaterials research.  In the pursuit [..]

Nanotechnology, Semiconductor Technology

Challenging times ahead thanks to technology

Posted on December 30, 2018 by Walt | Permalink 0

Last month’s blog was about the challenges in determining real scientific research and reports that include falsified or erroneous conclusions.  It is difficult enough to understand results that [..]

Nanotechnology, Nanotechnology Risk Management

Faking Science

Posted on November 30, 2018 by Walt | Permalink 0

A portion of this topic was covered in the April 2018 blog, but enough additional material has surfaced that this information needs to be covered again.  The reproducibility [..]

Misc Ramblings, Science

Nanotechnology and Electronics

Posted on October 31, 2018 by Walt | Permalink 0

The competition for nanotechnology applications in electronic circuitry is meeting manufacturing volume challenges, reliability, and cost.  Until the manufacturing volume can be demonstrated, the reliability can not be [..]

Electronics, Nanotechnology

Augmented Reality

Posted on September 30, 2018 by Walt | Permalink 0

Previously, I have mentioned how Augmented Reality (AR) could be employed to evaluate nanomaterial properties through being able to switch from 3-D images containing three different parameters to [..]

Misc Ramblings, Science

Modeling and Nanotechnology

Posted on August 31, 2018 by Walt | Permalink 0

Modeling is the development of a mathematical representation of an actual or proposed set (group) of interactions that can be employed to predict the functioning of the set [..]

Nanotechnology