The Pentagon and American R&D

The U.S. Department of Defense designated the STC Center at Canandaigua, a branch of New York State University at Albany, as a “trusted foundry” for nanotechnology, the Democrat and Chronicle reported this morning.

Nanotechnology creates devices that operate at the molecular and cellular level.  It is a crucially important technology of the future, and has applications for medicine, electronics and much else.  It is good that the Pentagon sees the importance of supporting this domestic industry, and it is good that it has the freedom to invest in U.S. technology.

A great many important technologies have come out of U.S. military research and development, including nuclear energy, the Internet and robotics technology.  Still, I have misgivings about the military orientation of American R&D.   What happens to our R&D if the United States no longer finds itself engaged in perpetual warfare, and we cut out military down to the size of other great powers?

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Click on Nanotechnology wiki for a Wikipedia article explaining the technology and its potential.

Click on Big job-growth potential seen for Canandaigua high-tech center for the complete D&C article.

Tags: MIlitary Research, Nanotechnology, Research and Development