• Submitted by: manso
• Society
• 09 / 10 / 2010

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The Cuban government is planning to open a nanotechnology research center before the end of the year, as part of a national plan to develop the new line of science.

Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, scientific adviser to the Council of State, announced the plan during the keynote speech at a nanotech conference in Havana Sept. 8, according to official Website Cubadebate.

“The main objective for nanotechnology in Cuba is to join in 2015-2020 the leading nations in the region,” said the nuclear physicist, who is Fidel’s oldest son.

Nanotechnology is about controlling matter on an atomic or molecular level and has wide applications in medicine, manufacturing and warfare.

The Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Cuba will focus on nanotech research for applications ranging from materials production to medical applications, according to Cubadebate. The center will be open for joint projects with foreign researchers, particularly from Latin America, Castro Díaz-Balart said.

Nanotechnologies will challenge raw material producers around the globe, Castro Diaz-Balart said, because new synthetic materials will replace commodities such as rubber or cotton.

In the 1980s, Fidel Sr. opened the biotech research hub in Havana, which has propelled Cuba into the top tier of biotechnology producers in the world.

The Third International Seminar of Nanosciences and Nanotechnology in Havana is attended by 70 experts from Russia, China, Japan, Netherlands, France, Italy, and United States, including David Gross, 2004 Nobel prize laureate in physics and director of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, and Zhores Alferov of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a 2000 Nobel laureate.

Source: www.cubastandard.com/2010/09/08/nanotech-research-center-to-open-in-havana/