Commentary in 2006

With industrial research increasingly under pressure to produce rapid profits, and universities rightly concerned with primary research, can university spin-off companies fill the gap between invention and commercialization?

Recent advances have brought negative index materials and their fascinating properties from their theoretical origins into the domain of experimental physics and device engineering.

The concept of wireless sensor networks conjures up images of a world of ubiquitous sensing, but it requires a massive increase in the number of sensors available. Although there has been considerable activity in transducer-based 'sensor nets', there have been virtually no corresponding deployments of chemical- or biological-sensing networks — considerable advances in materials science are needed before these can be used on a large scale.

Basic research performed in industrial laboratories is declining — is the focus on profitability to the detriment of furthering scientific knowledge?

There is no doubt that the possible hazards associated with nanomaterials are significant, and that concern is valid; but how do we begin to address the challenges that lie ahead? Expanding our scope and increasing the diversity of subject matter is the key to attaining the knowledge we will need to protect against the new range of nanohazards.

The race is on for developing environmentally friendly energy from fusion. Can modelling speed up the design of materials necessary for good economic performance?

The rational design of materials by organization at the atomic scale is attractive for delivering increased functionality, but there are practical difficulties in such precise construction. Nanocasting is an emerging technique that provides one way of solving the problem.