By Jim Stafford
The Oklahoman 

Oklahoma is taking nanotechnology research off the shelf and putting it to work in products created by state companies, said Jim Mason, executive director of the Oklahoma Nanotechnology Initiative.

"The National Science Foundation says that everything manmade is going to be impacted by nanotechnology," Mason said during Thursday's opening session of the NanoFocus and Oklahoma EPSCoR Annual State Conference at the Cox Convention Center.

"Our vision is that Oklahoma companies are the world leader in whatever they make because they were the first to use nanotechnology to improve their products."

The state is advancing that vision by rewarding innovative researchers and entrepreneurs who find ways to improve their products or manufacturing processes with nanotechnology. Call it a strong focus on nanotechnology applications instead of research.

Nanotechnology is the manipulation of materials at the atomic level, or at a scale of about a billionth of a meter. Products created with nanotech-based materials are said to be lighter, stronger and longer lasting.

Mason used the NanoFocus and EPSCoR conference to reveal the 12 proposals that are competing for $1.5 million in funding through the 2008 Oklahoma Nanotechnology Applications Program.

Last year, five state companies or researchers were awarded grants to fund their proposals.

Oklahoma's innovative nanotechnology funding program, created by the state Legislature, is being emulated elsewhere, Mason said.

"I just got an e-mail from North Carolina that says, 'We would like you to come talk to us; we understand you are the leader in the nation for companies that are finding ways to use nanotechnology,'" he said. "Every other state is focusing on the research, and all this research is sitting on the shelves."

In fact, the state's Nanotechnology Sharing Incentive Act was written so that state companies can use technology developed anywhere for their state-funded projects. For instance, Oklahoma City-based Martin Bionics has worked closely with researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratories in Tennessee to develop applications for its prosthetics research.

Martin Bionics won a $250,000 nanotech grant in 2007 and is one of the dozen to submit proposals this year. Charles Seeney and his nanotech applications company, XetaComp Nanotechnology LLC, also won $250,000 in state funding last year and has submitted a proposal.

But the 2008 funding program attracted plenty of proposals from researchers seeking first-time state grants.

For instance, Shelly Elizondo submitted a proposal on behalf of Norman-based Nanolight Inc. that would use nanotechnology to enhance the optical properties of its infrared light detectors. Elizondo was among about 250 people attending the NanoFocus conference that continues today.

Nanolight, founded in 2004 by University of Oklahoma researcher Zhisheng Shi, already owns a $750,000 Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research Grant to develop infrared technology that can be used in a missile defense system for the government.

A state grant "would definitely complement what we are doing now," Elizondo said. "There is a lot more we could do with funding from a state agency. There are really multiple uses, but missile defense is a start."

Other funding proposals that will be considered include use of nanotechnology for detection of explosives and biohazards, for use with dental implants, for use in rotary seal applications and in the development of a drug delivery system, among other uses.

"There will be a lot of new ideas that come out of this in addition to improving products," Mason said. "The real winners are going to be states that capitalize by making new products that are leaps and bounds above everything else."

Oklahoma is blazing the nanotechnology path for the nation, he said.