Larry Dubois, vice president of SRI International’s Physical Sciences Division, says interest — and opportunities — in cleantech are “off the charts.”

At SRI, a leading research and development institute based in Menlo Park, California, Dubois has a unique vantage point of that tricky road that runs from experimental R&D to commercialization.

We invite universities and research institutions from around the world to showcase their technology portfolio during Nanotech 2007.

Chemists at Rice University may have unlocked one of the secrets for using nanoscale ‘building blocks’ to assemble much larger superstructures.

Rice researchers have found that tiny building blocks (gold nanorods) will spontaneously assemble themselves into ring-like superstructures. The finding, Rice researchers said, could lead to the development of novel nanodevices such as highly-sensitive optical sensors, superlenses, or even “invisible objects” for use in the military.

New tools for small molecule imaging and nanoscale mass spectrometry could result from an R&D partnership announced this week between Nanosys Inc. and Bruker Daltonics Inc.

The firms have entered a broad agreement, which includes R&D collaboration on future products, as well as distribution for Nanosys’ current nanotechnology-enabled matrix-free target plates (technology it calls Capture and Analyze NALDI chips) in Bruker’s FLEX line of specialized mass spectrometers.

Cleantech 2007 Examines Measure That Would Boost R&D in Solar, Fuel Cells

Efforts are underway in Congress to extend tax credits for renewable energy technologies, including solar panels and fuel cells for 10 years.

• Heated Nanoprobes Shown To Slow Growth Of Cancer Cells
• Nanotechnology Could Aid in Development of Artifical Retina
• University Researchers Create Novel System That Allows Drug to Deliver Itself

• Hewlett Packard Joins Bio-IT-Nano Institute in California
• ‘Take’ Nanotechnology With You When You Travel

• Nokia Partners With European University For Nanotech Research Center
• Leading Displays Company Enters Into Agreement with Nanosys, Inc.

• GE Announces New Findings In Its Nanotech Research