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August 9, 2007
The Business Review ~ Albany

RPI makes list of top nanotech developments with non-reflective coating

Research & Development Magazine has announced the most innovative developments in nanotechnology this year -- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute made the list, the state University at Albany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering didn't.

The top 25 were not ranked in any specific order.

Editors, in announcing the winners, said: "These products, processes, and innovations are groundbreaking technologies that are likely to have a large impact on their specific industries and society."

Rensselaer made the list for a non-reflective coating "that reflects virtually no light," the magazine reported.

"It's the world's first ideal anti-reflective coating," said Jason Gorss, a Rensselaer spokesman. One use for this technology is in solar cell development. The coatings on current solar cells reflect light back. The RPI technology would allow all the light to be converted to energy.

Others universities making the list include: Florida State University, the University of California at Los Angeles, Berkeley University, Georgia Tech and Pennsylvania State University.

Government-related labs making the list included: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland , Wash. , Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque , N.M. , and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge , Tenn.

The state University at Albany 's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering has been ranked No. 1 among worldwide universities in nanotechnology and microtechnology, according to Small Times magazine.

In May, UAlbany's NanoCollege was ranked No. 1 overall by Small Times -- first in facilities and education; second in commercialization; sixth in research; eighth among peers for commercialization; and 10th among peers in both research and micro commercialization.

"The University at Albany maintains its lead position in Small Times' study, especially in terms of education, facilities, and commercialization," Small Times wrote at the time. The magazine noted that the nanocollege is "widely recognized as a global resource for research, development, work force education, and economic outreach in nanotechnology and its applications."

UAlbany beat Cornell University (No. 2), University of Michigan (No. 3), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (No. 4) and Penn State (No. 5.).