Foresight Institute Announces Feynman Prize Winners

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
The Foresight Institute, a nanotechnology education and public policy think tank
based in Palo Alto, has announced the winners of the prestigious 2009 Foresight
Institute Feynman Prizes in Nanotechnology.

Established in 1993 in honor of Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman, two $5,000
prizes are awarded in two categories, theory and experiment, to recognize
researchers whose recent work has most advanced the field toward the achievement
of Feynman's vision for nanotechnology: molecular manufacturing, the
construction of atomically-precise products through the use of molecular machine
systems.

The winner of the 2009 Feynman Prize for Experimental work is the team of
Yoshiaki Sugimoto, Masayuki Abe, and Oscar Custance, in recognition of their
pioneering experimental demonstrations of mechanosynthesis, specifically the use
of atomic resolution dynamic force microscopy - also known as non-contact atomic
force microscopy (NC-AFM) - for vertical and lateral manipulation of single
atoms on semiconductor surfaces. Their work, published in Nature, Science, and
other prestigious scientific journals, has demonstrated a level of control over
the ability to identify and position atoms on surfaces at room temperature which
opens up new possibilities for the manufacture of atomically precise structures.

The winner of the 2009 Feynman Prize for Theory is Robert A. Freitas Jr., in
recognition of his pioneering theoretical work in mechanosynthesis in which he
proposed specific molecular tools and analyzed them using ab initio quantum
chemistry to validate their ability to build complex molecular structures. This
Prize also recognizes his previous work in systems design of molecular machines,
including replicating molecular manufacturing systems which should eventually be
able to make large atomically precise products economically and the design of
medical nanodevices which should eventually revolutionize medicine.

"What once seemed like a distant vision when it was first outlined by Feynman in
1959 - a new manufacturing technology able to arrange the very atoms that are
the fundamental building blocks of matter - has come a step closer to reality,"
said J. Storrs Hall, President of Foresight Institute. "This is no small thing,
for all manufactured products are made from atoms - and if we can better control
how those atoms are arranged we can make fundamentally better products. Products
that are remarkably light, strong, smart, green, and cheap. Molecular
manufacturing will dwarf the Industrial Revolution."

The Feynman Prizes will be awarded in person in January near the Palo Alto
headquarters of Foresight Institute.

About Foresight Institute

http://www.foresight.org/

Foresight Institute is a leading think tank and public interest organization
focused on nanotechnology. Foresight dedicates itself to providing education,
policy development, and networking to ensure the beneficial implementation of
molecular manufacturing.

For further information, contact Christine Peterson, +1 650 289 0860 Ext 255,
Peterson@foresight.org.

Foresight Institute
Christine Peterson, +1-650-289-0860 ext. 255
Peterson@foresight.org

Copyright Business Wire 2009