Govt industries invest heavily on research:

Tapping the world of nanotechnology

Manjari Peiris

“The absence of scientific backgrounds among fund controllers in this country was the reason that created problems in setting up a state owned Nanotechnology Institute in Sri Lanka, although it was approved by the Cabinet in August 2006.

Periodically waves of technology sweep in the entire world. Korea was a country who caught these waves of technologies at the correct time and could provide favourable living environments for their scientists.

As such they could maintain their capabilities in science and technology at a very high level and let the industries to grow up,” said Minister of Science and Technology Prof. Tissa Vitarana.

He was speaking at a seminar at the Hotel Galadari on Tapping the world of Nanotechnology jointly organized by the National Science Foundation and Small and Medium Enterprise Developers of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka.

Fund controllers

The Minister said that the fund controllers in the country do not appreciate or realize the importance of science and technology or the scientists, at all. “There is a big economic crisis in the world and we can take advantage of this situation on the basis of nanotechnology, at least now.

Nanotechnology brings in a greater return which is equivalent to 8:1 whereas the return of bio-technology is only 3:1.”

Prof. Vitarana was hopeful that this ratio would increase with time and that its cost effectiveness would help small and medium scale industrial development.

Since the Treasury refused to release funds to set up a government-owned Nanotechnology Institute, finally SLINTec, a private/public partnership with five main industries in Sri Lanka was incorporated under the Companies Act as a Private Company on April 9, 2008. SLINTec at Biyagama would look into research activities to apply nanotechnology for the advancement of technologies in Sri Lanka.

The Minister signed an MoU with the five main companies to invest Rs. 450 million during a period of three years on a 50:50 basis. The initial funding of the government of 100 percent investment is released by the National Science Foundation PPP venture.

A 60-acre land has already been released at Homagama for Nanoscience Park with buildings and equipment for research and development in Nanotechnolgy. The NANCO which is owned by the government will provide infrastructure to set up production facilities there.

Research

Dr. Rohan Munasinghe of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Moratuwa said that soon research would bring us devices that could translate foreign languages as fast as one talks. “Nanotechnology is doing things in the scale of nature,” he said.

“Nanotechnology is not only miniaturization, but putting into practice a range of “new” properties of materials available in nano scale. Nanotechnolgy is an interdisciplinary field that encompasses physics, chemistry, biology and engineering. Recently there has been a significant advancement in science and nanotechnology in nanometre scale.

“Governments and industries are heavily investing on research and development in Nanotechnology. Nanotechnology has promised much miraculous future advancement, some of them are seemingly impossible to comprehend,” he said.

Prof. Veranja Karunaratne of SLINTec introduced Nanotechnology as an “enabling tool, but not a technology. “Nanotechnology in Sri Lanka is still in its infancy and has not taken a breakthrough yet.

“Scientists can make a massive difference in national development by helping to exploit good technologies. A big breakthrough may appear with nanotechnology in any nation, at any time.”

The government through SLINTec and NANCO has supported nanotechnology technopreneurship through which we may make a nation proud by making “made in Sri Lanka”, quality level in Nanotechnology.

The International Advisory Panel of SLINTec is Prof. Gehan Ameratunga of Cambridge University, UK, Prof. Prasanna de Silva of Queens University, Belfast, UK, Dr. Kumar Wickremasinghe of Nano-Science and Technology Institute, Washington, USA and Prof. Ravi Silva of the University of Surrey, UK.

They were the pioneers in establishing the Nanotechnology Institute in Sri Lanka.

Prof. Sirimalee Fernando, Chairperson, National Science Foundation was also present.