Fellow Nanotechnology professionals and enthusiasts;

In case you missed it, on Dec 22 of last year, a noteworthy milestone took place, which I believe is a particularly meaningful event in the recognition of Atomically Precise Manufacturing (APM) as an exciting and viable goal.

The Department of Energy (DOE) issued the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) 1465 which was titled “Advanced Manufacturing Projects for Emerging Research Exploration” and included Subtopic 1.5 – “ATOMICALLY PRECISE MANUFACTURING”.

While Zyvex has won some research contracts from the US Government and matching funds from the great state of Texas that have supported our work on developing APM, this is the first time that a US Funding Agency has offered funds explicitly to develop APM.

We are especially impressed with the unflinching definition of APM in the DOE FOA 1465 document.

“Atomically precise manufacturing is the production of materials, structures, devices, and finished goods in a manner such that every atom is at its specified location relative to the other atoms, and in which there are no defects, missing atoms, extra atoms, or incorrect (impurity) atoms.”

We have Dr. David Forrest and his Managers at the DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office to thank for this fantastic opportunity. David, a Technology Manager in the DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office, has worked passionately and tirelessly to develop a case for funding APM. We believe that this will open the door for other funding agencies to recognize the potential of realizing the bold prediction of Richard Feynman when he asked the question back in 1959 “as to whether, ultimately – in the great future – we can arrange the atoms the way we want?”

Zyvex Labs entire existence is based on the belief that Atomically Precise Manufacturing will provide a huge benefit to humankind. Therefore the DOE FOA 1465 is very well aligned with our interest. We have submitted a concept paper to this FOA and are involved with a few others. While we hope that we win an award, we will celebrate this milestone in any case.