Area innovation center planned

The North Carolina Biotechnology Center wants to establish its first "Center of Innovation" in the Piedmont Triad, and it has granted $100,000 to a group of institutions to start the planning process.

The Triad center would focus on researching tiny particles in the field of "nanobiotechnology," according to a news release from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.

"The ultimate goal is to help establish the Piedmont Triad as a research hub for products and processes using very, very small particles - measured by the nanometer, or billionth of a meter," according to the news release. "A meter is 3.28 feet. A typical human hair is about 80,000 nanometers across."

The grant will help representatives of N.C. A&T, UNCG and Wake Forest University pull together proposals for funding the project. The Piedmont Triad Partnership will administer the first grant.

This area is already a center of interest in such research.

The Piedmont Triad Entrepreneurial Network has held the only conference in the state focused solely on nanotechnology. The 2008 meeting will be held March 26-27 at Salem College.

For more information, go to www.ncnano.com.