Society News

[Published at www.nanobasque.eu] Technology has evolved so much recently that Basque consumers take for granted that within a few years they will be able to purchase televisions, tablets and computers with ultrafine flexible screens that will be able to be rolled up.

[www.nanobasque.eu] José María Pitarke, Director General of CIC nanoGUNE, has turned the center he runs into a world reference in a very short time, with remarkable successes as the founding of Graphenea, one of the few companies worldwide capable of producing graphene. Pitarke says nanotechnology will help basque companies open new knowledge-intensive industrial sectors

NanoGUNE and Inbiomed have signed an agreement to promote synergies between regenerative medicine and nanotechnology in the area of tissue engineering. The first project has been already launched to face the challenge of growing neurons in vitro from stem cells. These neurons could offer a substantial improvement in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer or Parkinson.

Co-organized by ADEGI and nanoGUNE, and with the collaboration of the nanoBasque Agency, this workshop invites Basque companies to explore the opportunities offered by nanotechnology to increase their competitiveness. Four Basque companies – Graphenea, Maier, and GKN Driveline will participate in the workshop sharing the challenges they face to incorporate nanotechnology in their business.

nanoGUNE contributes with its nanotechnology expertise to the CENIT project ‘Customatized Eye Care (CeyeC)’. Granted by the Spanish Government, nanoGUNE has been collaborating since January 2010 with biocompanies in the development of new diagnostic tools for the pathologies of the eye surface, as an example of nanothecnology interdisciplinarity.

The EVOLGENE project, directed by nanoGUNE’s researcher Raul Perez-Jimenez, has been selected as one of the four “Ideas” that will be supported by the Entrepreneurs Fund of Fundación Repsol. The paleoenzymology project aims at reconstructing ultra-efficient ancestral enzymes for use in industry.

The third edition of the Kursaal Prizes for the Promotion of Conferences awarded nine institutions. The award-ceremony, that was celebrated at Kursaal on April 28, was chaired by the Major of the Provicial Council of Gipuzkoa.