News

The Nano Pilot demo-cases have been making incremental progress between September – December 2019 and continue to have the support of the network manager and the two leading regions, Emilia-Romagna and Skåne. The Nanowires for ICT, Energy & Sensors and the NeMs4Bio demo-cases have been working on their concept notes and have received feedback from different Vanguard regions as well as local actors. After reviewing the Nanowires concept note, the demo-case leader together with experts from Lund University, Sweden have decided to add the word “sensors” to the demo-case name to encompass all application areas and to broaden its scope. 

On November 12th, 2019, representatives of the Nano pilot co-leading regions, Emilia-Romagna and Skåne, the Nanowires and NeMs4Bio demo-case leaders and our network manager met with policy officers at DG GROW to discuss the two demo-cases in more depth such as needs and challenges and to learn more about the Technical Assistance Facility requirements. 

On November 13th, the Nano Pilot co-leading regions hosted the second plenary meeting of the year. The meeting took place in the Skåne European Office in Brussels.  During the event, participants listened to presentations by the demo-case leaders. Several experts from Emilia-Romagna, including the University of Bologna attended the meeting. In addition, Dr. Francesco, Matteucci, CNR Nanotech – Clust-ER GREEN gave a keynote speech entitled: “Demonstration phase and PPP as enablers of know how transfer within nanotechnology.” During the meeting, the Nanowires demo-case leader gave an update on the Skåne ProNano project which focuses on Nitride material on industrial scale for power electronics and for LED. The project has now been approved and is in the implementation process in Lund. This is part of the broader Science Village context and vision. 

The Printed Electronics on metallic 3D objects, SHAPETRONICS, is being introduced and discussions about how to proceed are ongoing. The original concept was proposed by a group of renowned European Research & Technology Organizations lead by the CRM group, a collective research center located in the Wallonia region.

The focus of the Nanowires for ICT and Energy & Sensors demonstration case within the Nano pilot, led by Skåne, is to better understand the needs of our target industry sector and the missing links in potential new value chains. Nanowires can be used in many different application areas with a broad range of advantages. A detailed concept note describing the goals, value chain, relevant stakeholders and how to move forward within the nanotechnology field has been developed. 

In order to overcome the barriers to the implementation of Nanowires, the demo-case can envisage setting up a Nanowires Platform, where information on nanomaterials and available clean rooms can be accessed by actors in specific application areas, looking for new solutions such as nanowires to address their specific issues. The demo-case has developed a concept note and is in the process of identifying regional partners in nanotechnology.

The Nano-enabled Micro System for Bio Analysis demonstration case (NeMs4Bio), led by Flanders, addresses the common challenge integrating and interfacing various components (e.g. light sources, fluid in- and outlets) with Si -based chips into lab-on-chip modules (e.g. chip carrier, cartridge). Aside from the various integration challenges, the envisaged platform also covers aspects such as bio- and nano-functionalization and combining physics principals with chemistry, cross-KET integration (Si-on-X, Si-in-X). Special attention is given to the development of a scalable production line approach for design, fabrication and testing that allows easy re-use of components with cost-efficient limited customizations for various market needs. The objective of this initiative is to enable the quick development of complete applications for medium volume development requests, based on a set of compatible component technologies and largely standardized integration solutions. This initiative aims at coming up with a technology platform that addresses product needs for these market segments, hence, aiming at a reduction of the initial engineering (NRE) costs as customers want integrated and packaged modules, not isolated technologies. 

The NeMs4Bio demo-case has made significant progress. A detailed concept note has been completed. East Netherlands and Emilia Romagna, two of the regions working in the NeMs4Bio demo-case and the demo-case leader, have already identified the first ideas from companies to develop these standardized integration solutions. Other regions will hopefully follow suit.

Are you interested in learning more about the Nano Pilot? Pleasee see here or contact Ana Paula Nascimento, Region Skåne.