The first Nanotechnology Conference and Trade Show - Nanotech 1998 - was held at the Santa Clara Marriott, California. A group of 250 scientists and researchers gathered to discuss and share developments, innovations and research in the growing, but still emerging science of Nanotechnology. The event, sponsored and organized by Matthew Laudon and Bart Romanowicz of the NSTI - Nano Science and Technology Institute, was such a success that it became an annual event, attracting over 3,500 attendees in 2008.

Nanotech 2009 will be at its twelve edition. The conference has grown in both scope and audience and it now ranks as the largest international nanotechnology conference in the world. The conference no longer exclusively focuses only on scientists and researchers, although sharing research and developments remains a cornerstone of the conference. Nanotech now reaches out to investors, venture capitalists and business executives interested in how nanotechnology can drive business in the 21^st century.

Nanotech has continued to add vendors, a broader array of speakers and a diverse set of programs aimed at both scientists and business leaders. NSTI Nanotech 2009 is expected to be the largest conference ever: over 250 companies, organizations and 70 international pavilions will be exhibiting at the Nanotech Expo at the George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, TX, on May 5-6, 2009. Exhibitors will include equipment manufacturers and suppliers, systems providers, finance and investment firms, R&D companies, project developers, trade associations, and government agencies.

Nanotech 2009 is the largest and most comprehensive nanotechnology conference and tradeshow in the world. In the 2009 edition there will be 30 symposium ranging from technical to business, organized in 6 main focus areas:

· Fabrication, Characterization & Tools;
· Advanced Materials;
· Electronics & Microsystems;
· Medical & Biotech;
· Energy & Environment;
· Business & Initiatives.

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States of America and the largest city within the state of Texas. Houston is the home of the Texas Medical Center—the world’s largest concentration of healthcare and research institutions—and NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where Mission Control Center is located.

Houston’s economy has a broad industrial base in the energy, manufacturing, aeronautics, transportation, and health care sectors. Commercially, Houston is ranked as a gamma world city, and the area is a leading center for building oilfield equipment.

Texas is one of the four leading US States in the nanotechnology sector, and Houston is one of the 12 “Nano Metros” in the nation. A Nano Metro is a city with at least 15 nanotech facilities, that carry out either R&D activities or manufacturing. The city is also considered a US niche in the semiconductors.

See you in Houston!