Foreword Nanotechnology represents a huge R&D investment worldwide. The global funding of nanotechnologies was estimated to be about $7 billion in 2011 and has increased about 20% per year since then, according to various studies. The U.S. is certainly investing heavily in nanotechnology. It started the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) about 16 years ago, pulling together the efforts of 20 federal departments and independent agencies. Since 2001, the NNI has spent a total of $22 billion; in fiscal 2015 the NNI had a budget of $1.5 billion. Many exciting programs have been initiated by the NNI, and several commercial products have appeared in the market. As a scientist myself, I am very interested in nanotechnology and the promise that it holds. Thus, when I was elected to the American Chemical Society (ACS) Presidential Succession, I made nanotechnology part of my scientific platform during my Presidential year in 2015. A major action item was to organize a high-profile Presidential symposium on nanotechnology to be held at the ACS national meeting in Denver in 2015. It was gratifying that the symposium was well attended with leading researchers and representatives of U.S. funding and regulatory agencies sharing valuable information and updates. My thanks to all the speakers and especially Larry Doemeny and Chuck Geraci who played leading roles in helping me organize this successful symposium. The second part of my nanotechnology initiative was to initiate an ACS book on nanotechnology. The purpose of the two volumes of this book is to compile the latest R&D findings and to assess the current progress towards commercialization of nanotech products. I am pleased that H. N. Cheng, Larry Doemeny and Chuck Geraci were willing to collaborate with me to co-edit these books. We have invited the speakers from the Denver symposium and also many other well-known nanotechnology experts to contribute articles to these books. I am delighted that this book project has come to fruition. Thanks are due to all of the authors and my co-editors for their wonderful efforts. The two volumes of this book contain a wealth of information on research, product development, commercialization, and regulatory issues related to nanotechnology. My hope is that these books will be a valuable resource and reference for students and active practitioners alike.
Diane Grob Schmidt 2015 ACS President
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