Science, Technology and Industry Co-operation in Finland - Technopolis: Best Practices for Science and Technology Cities - page 445

manner than at present. For example, the car industry is very interested in using
this method to develop complete touch sensing dashboards,'' says Mikko

Kärkkäinen, CFO at Canatu Oy.
In practice, Canatu produces thin, transparent films that contain carbon nano-
buds or nanotubes. The thickness and electrical conductivity of the film can be
adjusted very precisely. ''We make the world's thinnest nanotube films,'' con-
tinues Kärkkäinen.
No one else has produced similar films industrially, which is why Canatu joined
the Tekes programme—to show that the method can be scaled from laboratory to
industrial production. The pilot plant is now under construction at their facilities in
Helsinki, and production is scheduled to begin in 2012. ''In practice, our line is just
a reactor, in which the nanostructures are synthesised, located above a printing
machine that deposits them onto the film in the form of aerosol. Competing
methods are much more complicated having as many as 18-20 different phases,''
explains Kärkkäinen. Canatu participated in the Functional Materials Programme
and is particularly grateful for the flexibility shown by Tekes. ''Things happen
rapidly in our field. When research results forced us to change direction, Tekes was
able to react quickly,'' states Kärkkäinen.
The work has also received international recognition. Canatu was named to the
respected Red Herring 100 Global list in 2010. This prize is awarded annually to
the top 100 technology companies in the world.
More information:

Chief Financial Officer, Mikko Kärkkäinen, Canatu Oy
Tel. [phone], mikko.karkkainen(at)canatu.com
www.canatu.com

References

European Innovation Scoreboard 2008.
de Heide, M. (2007). Monitoring and analysis of policies and public financing instruments
conducive to higher levels of R&D investments, The ''POLICY MIX'' project, country review
Finland, Technopolis, March 2007.
Sabel, C., Saxenian, A. L. (2008). A fugitive success, Finland's economic future, Sitra Reports
80.
Statistics Finland, Innovation (2008). Innovation survey final report. Accessed 10 June 2010.
Statistics Finland, http://www.stat.fi/index_en.html .
Tekes, the finnish funding agency for technology and innovation, www.tekes.fi . www.tuli.info &
TULI-ohjelman väliraportti, Teknologiaohjelmaraportti 8/2004, Tekes. http://www.vigo.fi/
program1 .