EAGER: A Systems Approach for Identification and Evaluation of Nanoscience and Nanomanufacturing Opportunities and Risks

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Since the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) was announced in 2000, significant progress has been made in understanding the unique physical phenomena that occur at the nano-scale and in designing and making new nano-scale materials, structures and devices. To realize the benefits of nanotechnology, research efforts have increased in the area of nanomanufacturing, which is the pathway to commercialization. Large-scale manufacturing of nano-enabled products brings opportunities and challenges. This project will conduct a systematic study of nanotechnology and nanomanufacturing and identify and evaluate opportunities for research and risks associated with production of large quantities of nanomaterials. A systems approach to collect and analyze bibliographic and patent data will be used. The project will examine new methods of gathering the information and study new models to assess it. It will identify emerging topics and sub-topics and identify the environmental, health and safety (EHS) risks during the manufacture and use of nanomaterials. The results of this study will guide the government and researchers in determining what research gaps exist and how their resources and investments could be directed to address important areas in nanotechnology. The objective of this EArly Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) project is to develop new analytical models and frameworks to analyze the outputs of research and innovation nanotechnology and nanomanufacturing. Nanotechnology publication and patent data records from ISI Web of Science and US Patent and Trade Office (USPTO) will be mined. The project will employ topic modeling and clustering, trend analysis, and visualization techniques to develop a monitoring system that will classify and characterize a vast array of nanotechnology topics and subtopics, track their evolution, and identify emerging areas of research. In addition, various text mining techniques will be used to extract and analyze EHS data associated with nanomanufacturing processes and large-scale nanomaterial production. Appropriate social media, books, magazines and journal articles will be the sources for this analysis. Since nanotechnology is a rapidly developing field tracking it has to be at a much faster pace than before. In the new framework, nanotechnology domain knowledge in topic modeling will be incorporated and the topics updated dynamically in shorter time intervals. This is a challenge because it requires collecting denser data in a short period of time. Also, the project is a first attempt to include wider public participation in identifying EHS risks of nanotechnology. Conventional risk evaluation approach is based on expert knowledge in certain subfields. The new approach will incorporate the perspectives and knowledge of various stakeholders, including researchers, inventors, opinion leaders, and end-users.