Academia meets industry

As I type up this issue's Editorial, I am happy to report that I am writing from Dublin; and am delighted to say that I am enjoying my first trip to the city (and in fact to Ireland) immensely. I am here to take part in EuroNanoForum; what I’ve been informed is Europe largest Nanotechnology Conference, playing host to around 1500 delegates. Before arriving I was not quite sure what to expect. Having read the information on the website it was clear that the event was not the usual academic conference I frequently attend, such as those organised by Materials Today's sister publications (and I’ll squeeze in a reminder that the Nano Today 2013 conference registration is still open). The event is in fact much more industry focussed, with an estimated 40% of the delegates coming from the commercial sector. It seems one of the goals of the meeting is to encourage more collaboration between academia and industry, to fully exploit the potential of the smallest of materials. To paraphrase the words of the plenary speakers at the opening address; academia and industry must work together to not only solve problems, but identify those problems in the first place.

The reviews in this issue of Materials Today are I hope in some way related to such a theme. Our first three reviews take a look at some promising nanomaterials; with a focus at both the fundamental research and application ends of the spectrum. Meanwhile our final review looks at nuclear energy, and how materials scientists are coming together, outside of any formal frameworks to address the issues that the nuclear industry is facing. So let's get into the details: first up, Jordi Arbiol and colleagues consider bandgap engineering in nanowires, with self-assembled 0, 1 and 2D quantum structures. Second, it's a biomaterials double bill with Alain Dufresne looking at nanocellulose – a new ageless bionanomaterial, and Bingyun Li et al. reviewing biomimetic electrospun nanofibrous structures. Finally, Stéphane Gin and colleagues introduce us to the radioactive waste programs of six nations, and their common needs.

As always, we of course have some fantastic online only content as well, which I hope you will be able to take a look at. On www.materialstoday.com you’ll be able to find our two part webinar series on new innovations in materials characterization, and another new webinar on introducing universal measurement spectrophotometry. You’ll also find a wealth of content on our blog, where you can find some more thought from me on my time at EuroNanoForum.

Until next time, enjoy your Materials Today.