Giving business the nano

Even if Motorola memory pioneer Herb Goronkin's appointment as NanoBusiness Alliance co-chairman is only an honorary title, it's still a thrill to see the group attach to its leadership list a representative from the third level of the nanotech triumvirate: science. With fellow co-chairmen Newt Gingrich and Steve Jurvetson representing the political and financial, a layer of technical know-how needed to be spread among the bread and bluster. The name of Goronkin may not appear with all the neon flash of the other two, but Goronkin brings the NanoBusiness Alliance something more valuable than star power: the ability to form, well, business alliances. As Candace Stuart reported in an in-depth Small Times profile earlier this year: "He's crafted partnerships with groups as varied as the industry and trade office of Japan and the research branch of the U.S. Department of Defense to keep his programs moving forward." Goronkin's latest program before retirement was MRAM, which uses the spin properties of electrons to create memory chips that don't go senile when they're turned off. His appointment sounds like a great way to put more "nano" into NanoBusiness. Discuss