Nanosys Awarded Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grant for Nanowire Research

Palo Alto, CA - (September 3, 2002). Nanosys Incorporated announced today the award of Phase I of a potential $1.6M Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to the company. The SBIR program is sponsored by the Small Business Administration and is designed to stimulate technological innovation and provide opportunities for small businesses. The grant is part of a special SBIR program to facilitate multidisciplinary work in the field of nanotechnology.

The grant from the National Institutes of Health was awarded to further Nanosys’ research and commercialization of a technology which uses unique semiconducting nanowires (ten thousand times narrower than the width of a human hair) to create novel nanowire based molecular electronic detection systems. This device will have applications ranging from medical to environmental to defense uses. This research will enable molecular detection at much greater sensitivity and at lower cost than current devices.

“Receiving this grant is a huge success for the company. It is a validation of our technology and our strategy of migrating nanoscience from the academic laboratories into commercial products. It is this migration towards viable commercialization which marks the emergence of nanotechnology as a truly disruptive technology instead of just novel research,” said Director of Business Development and Co-Founder Dr. Stephen Empedocles.

Dr. Chunming Niu, Nanosys, Inc., Founder and Principal Investigator of the grant said, “The entire Nanosys team made this grant possible. It is truly unique to work with a multidisciplinary team of biologists, chemists, material scientists and device engineers in such a close collaborative environment.” Dr. Niu added, “Although we have numerous challenges ahead, our team is committed to bringing nanoscience enabled solutions to problems which have seemed impossible in the past.”

About Dr. Chunming Niu

Dr. Niu is the Director of Chemistry at Nanosys, Inc. Before joining Nanosys, Dr. Niu worked on nanomaterial synthesis and characterization for almost ten years at Hyperion Catalysis, and was responsible for the development of several new nanomaterials and applications, including new catalysts for nanotube growth, ceramic nanofibrils/nanowhiskers, nanotube ceramic/polymer composites and a novel carbon nanotube based electrode for high power supercapacitors. Dr. Niu spent his postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Professor Charles Lieber at Harvard University. He received his Ph.D. Degree in Solid-State Chemistry from Brown University and his M.S. Degree in Chemistry from Nanjing University. Dr. Niu has co-authored over 30 publications and 20 patents.

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