Commercialization of nanotechnologies

Nanotechnology, which involves creating and manipulating organic and inorganic matter from the molecular to the nanoscale level, is an emerging, enabling technology that is receiving enormous amounts of attention in industrial and scientific communities. It is an umbrella term for a wide range of science and technologies. Significant and rapid advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology have been made in the past two decades. Numerous potential applications have been identified, with a promise to transform virtually every industry. These industries include aerospace, agriculture, biotechnology, electronics, energy and environment, information technology and telecommunication, materials science and manufacturing, and medicine. Governments from developed nations around the globe and private investors, including venture capitalists, are investing heavily in nanotechnology. Established companies and entrepreneurial startup firms are now exploring options for commercializing nanotechnology innovations. This thesis was initiated to investigate the current state of nanotechnology commercialization with respect to identifying the differences in commercialization strategies between startup firms and large corporations; the managerial and technical challenges facing nanotechnology based companies; the critical success factors in commercializing nanotechnologies; and the factors limiting the adoption and diffusion of nanotechnologies. The results and analysis of the interviews demonstrate that commercialization strategies for large corporations differ from those for start-up companies, with respect to methods for entering new business, funding new business, project selection criteria, risk management. There are several

Department dc:contributor.department

Management of Technology Program.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2004

Author dc:creator

• Oriakhi, Christopher O., 1960-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Edward B. Roberts.

• Management of Technology Program.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/17803

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/17803