Nanotechnology is the science of understanding, controlling and engineering matter at the one-to-100 nanometer scale. At this scale, scientific discoveries have unveiled novel properties that offer the potential for new applications in a wide array of segments such as clothing, energy, pharmaceuticals, and electronics. Nanotechnology is multidisciplinary and is argued to be a transformative general purpose technology with potential fundamental technological, economic, and societal consequences. While much emphasis over the last decade has been on the implications and risks of potential applications of nanotechnologies, increasing attention has been on patterns of nanotechnology commercialization and nanotechnology-enabled product developments.

In his talk, Luciano Kay  will present an overview of his past and current research on the societal and economic implications of nanotechnology development, and discuss the application of bibliometric and patent analyses to  understanding nano and other emerging technologies. Luciano’s recent nanotechnology-related projects have focused on probing the trajectories of emerging nano-science and innovation pathways in nanotechnology enterprise and applications in the U.S. and worldwide, using multiple research methods and strategies that involve, among others, global database development, data and text mining, and network analysis and visualization techniques.

Luciano Kay is a new postdoctoral scholar with CNS-UCSB’s Interdisciplinary Research Group 2, studying Globalization and Nanotechnology. Before joining CNS-UCSB, Luciano worked for more than five years with the Georgia Institute of Technology Program in Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy(STIP), where he investigated economic development related to diverse areas of  science, technology and innovation. While at Georgia Tech, Luciano was also involved with the RTTA1: Nanotechnology Research and Innovation Systems Analysis Group of the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University. Luciano’s doctoral dissertation, "How do prizes induce innovation? Learning from the Google Lunar X-Prize," investigated inducement prizes in the aerospace and defense sectors, and the means by which they inspire innovation. This research was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the IBM Center for the Business of Government. Luciano holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Additional information about Luciano is available at www.cns.ucsb.edu.