Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
“The.fusion.of.nanotechnology.with.biotechnology.is.a.momentous.connection.com-
bining.innovations.from.the.entire.sweep.of.human.history.with.our.radical.new.abil-
ity. to. understand. and. manipulate. matter. on. the. nanoscale. (Bainbridge. 2007:. p.. 81).”.
The.ability.to.understand.and.manipulate.the.atomic.scale.building.blocks.of.life.will.
continue. to. transform. the. way. that. scientists. study. biology,. health,. nutrition,. and. the.
environment.
This. chapter. focuses. on. the. development. of. educational. and. workforce. capacity. to.
satisfy. the. growing. need. for. nanobiotechnology-savvy. citizens.. Section. 29.2. tackles. the.
issues.surrounding.workforce.needs,.projections,.and.challenges..Section.29.3.reviews.the.
current.state.of.nanobiotechnology.education.
29.2 Workforce Development
29.2.1 Workforce Projections
There. has. been. a. great. deal. of. interest. in. predicting. the. growth. of. the. nanotechnology.
workforce. over. the. past. decade.. The. most. frequently. quoted. statistic. is. a. projection. of.
2.million.nanotechnology.jobs.by.2015.(Roco.and.Bainbridge.2001)..In.a.more.recent.report,.
these. authors. showed. that. between. 2000. and. 2008,. the. number. of. nanotechnology. jobs.
grew.at.a.rate.of.25%.annually.and.that.the.2,000,000.job.prediction.by.2015.was.still.accu-
rate.(Roco.2010)..Lux.Research.(2006).predicted.10.million.nanotechnology-related.manu-
facturing.jobs.by.2014.
Analysts. track. nanotechnology. publication,. patenting,. and. investment. data. to. predict.
the.future.demand.for.a.nanotechnology.workforce..Publications.in.peer-reviewed.jour-
nals. are. a. measureable. output. of. basic. research.. The. “SciFinder”. database. of. scientiic.
publications.was.used.to.identify.nanoscience.and.nanotechnology.peer-reviewed.articles.
between.2000.and.2010..Nanobiotechnology.papers.were.identiied.as.those.jointly.classi-
ied.in.the.subject.area.of.“Nanoscience.and.Nanotechnology”.and.a.life.science.area.such.
as. biotechnology,. biophysics,. biochemical. research. methods,. pharmacology,. medicine,.
and.toxicology..A.review.of.nanobiotechnology.publishing.trends.presented.in.Figure.29.1.
shows.that.the.subield.has.grown.at.the.same.rate.as.nanotechnology..Nanotechnology.
and. nanobiotechnology. publications. grew. at. an. average. annual. rate. of. 21%. and. 22%,.
respectively,.over.the.same.period..Nanobiotechnology.currently.represents.9%.of.all.nan-
otechnology.publications.
If. 10%. of. all. nanotechnology. research. output. is. related. to. nanobiotechnology,. it. is.
assumed. that. 10%. of. the. nanotechnology. workforce. is. also. nanobiotechnology. related..
Based. on. Roco. and. Bainbridge's. most. recent. projections. (2010),. the. worldwide. nanobio-
technology.workforce.will.require.200,000.workers.by.2015.and.600,000.by.2020.
29.2.2 Nanotechnology Workforce Demand by industry
Currently,. half. of. all. nanotechnology. research. is. being. performed. by. the. private. sector..
In.the.near.future,.nanotechnology.jobs.will.be.created.by.industry.to.commercialize.the.
technologies.currently.under.development..The.global.forecasts.for.the.nanotechnology-
enabled. product. market. in. 2015. range. between. $750. and. $3100. billion. (USD;. Palmberg.
et.al..2009)..The.output.of.industrial.nanotechnology.research.is.measured.using.patents..
