04:09 PM PST on Thursday, April 1, 2004

By WILLIAM McCALL, AP Business Writer

Gov. Ted Kulongoski urged some of the top business and technology leaders in Oregon to think small on Thursday -- very, very small.

Ore. governor Ted Kulongoski. (KGW Photo)

It was no April Fool's joke. The governor was talking about nanotechnology, the science of working with materials and devices so tiny some of them cannot be seen with a standard microscope.

Kulongoski has made nanotechnology development a top priority for the state, joining with Sen. Ron Wyden, a fellow Democrat, to push hard for federal funding and university support for companies trying to create new products based on the technology, which involves manipulation of individual atoms.

"Oregon is a place where right now, we produce, I believe, the best of the best in terms of high-tech innovation," Kulongoski said. "But what really matters today is whether we, as a state, have the political will to make the smart choice, to choose to invest in our intellectual capital, to invest so we can attract more, and generate more, cutting edge innovation."

The governor made his remarks at InnoTech 2004, the first in what is envisioned as an annual conference promoting statewide technological innovation.

Despite major budget battles last year in the Oregon Legislature, lawmakers approved $21 million for nanotechnology research at its three major public universities -- Oregon, Oregon State and Portland State, which have created the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute, or ORNAMI.

The conference was organized partly to draw attention to the new institute and make business leaders aware of its research goals.

Sam Angelos, a Hewlett-Packard Corp. vice president at its Oregon campus in Corvallis, said his division is focusing on basic nanotechnology research that is driving the technology down to the atomic level. But it may take a decade or longer to develop new devices or products, he said.

"We're not going to see a whole bunch of nanotechnology products tomorrow," Angelos said. But a solid foundation in basic research is needed to establish leadership in the field and provide the scientific breakthroughs that will create jobs and drive the state economy in the future, he said.

Adrian Roberts, who has held top posts at various national laboratories, told the conference that smaller size is also the trend for research programs.

The ORNAMI effort is unlikely to become a major national lab like Los Alamos in New Mexico or Lawrence Livermore in California, founded originally to help develop nuclear weapons before turning to basic science.

"The days of the national labs are gone," said Roberts, a senior advisor for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash. But smaller programs such as ORNAMI can help translate basic research into commercial products, he said.

In a study released earlier this week by the Milken Institute in Los Angeles, Oregon moved up four places to No. 19 among states rankings for technology and science.

Oregon had ranked No. 23 in the first national study done by the Milken Institute in 2002.

The study indicated Oregon had improved the size of its computer science work force and increased venture capital investment in high-tech companies.