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Photo:
Joe Putrock
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Nanotech—It’s
Not Just About Semiconductors Anymore
While
a lot of attention has gone to the arrival of International
Sematech and Tokyo Electron at the Albany Nanotech Campus
on Fuller Road, Pradeep Halder wants people to know nanotech
can do a lot more than make semiconductor chips.
Albany Nanotech’s Energy & Environmental Technology Application
Center, which Halder directs, is expected to receive a grant
from NASA in next year’s federal budget to develop power electronics
that can work at very low temperatures, for use in space.
Currently, expensive warming mechanisms are needed to keep
the solar panels working on NASA’s spacecraft. Nanotechnology
can alter how a material behaves at different temperatures.
But it’s not just space exploration that will benefit from
this research. Halder said that the methods developed will
also be relevant for all-electric ships and airplanes for
the armed forces, electric cars, and anywhere that super-efficient
motors are needed.
The grant was secured with the help of Rep. John Sweeney (R-Clifton
Park). A new lab will be formed in two to three months to
start the work.
—Miriam
Axel-Lute
A
Positive Agenda
AIDS
advocacy found a new Internet home on World AIDS Day last
Monday, with the launch of AIDSVote.org, a Web site created
by many of the nation’s leading HIV/AIDS advocacy groups.
The new Web site is intended to inform 2004 presidential candidates
and voters about basic policies necessary to reduce the spread
of HIV and AIDS around the world. By providing a list of the
fundamental requirements for slowing the spread of the disease
and caring for those infected with it, the organizations responsible
for AIDSVote.org hope to assist candidates in creating productive
agendas, as well as provide voters with a simple method for
comparing the candidates’ platforms.
“The
recommendations we make in AIDSVote.org are proven,” said
Michael Kink of the Albany-based HIV/AIDS advocacy group Housing
Works. “We know that lives will be saved if [the recommendations]
are adopted. Our hope is that they’ll become one-stop shopping
for the candidates.”
Most leading Democratic presidential candidates have already
voiced their agreement with several policies in the AIDSVote.org
platform, including a significant increase in the amount of
funding dedicated to the global fight against AIDS and measures
that favor affordable generic medication. In a statement issued
by Democratic candidate Dennis Kucinich, the Web site’s recommendations
were endorsed in their entirety.
“I
am joining AIDSVote.org in committing to invest at least $30
billion over the four years of my first term as president
to the global fight against AIDS,” said Kucinich.
Along with the model HIV/AIDS platform, AIDSVote.org will
feature the results of surveys that were recently distributed
to the major presidential candidates. The candidates’ responses
will be presented to facilitate comparison by voters.
“It’s
a nonpartisan effort,” said Kink. “We ask some detailed questions
to determine their stance on the policies we feel are important.”
Visitors to AIDSVote.org can also choose to endorse the Web
site’s platform by filling out a few short forms. These endorsements,
whether from individuals or groups, will be recorded on the
site to gauge public support for the platform it presents.
By providing candidates with both an informational source
for HIV/AIDS issues and a simple method for measuring public
approval of each aspect of the platform, the organizations
behind AIDSVote.org hope to increase the effectiveness of
future HIV/AIDS policies.
“We
just plan on telling them what works,” Kink said, “and then
we hope that they make the right decision.”
—Rick
Marshall
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Columns
& Opinions
