Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09MONTERREY456
2009-12-14 20:24:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Consulate Monterrey
Cable title:  

NANOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH TAKING ROOT IN NUEVO LEON

Tags:  ECON EFIN EIND EINT EINV PGOV TSPL MX 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHMC #0456/01 3482024
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 142024Z DEC 09
FM AMCONSUL MONTERREY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4151
INFO RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO PRIORITY 5237
RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEHMC/AMCONSUL MONTERREY 9780
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MONTERREY 000456 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT PASS OES/SAT

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EFIN EIND EINT EINV PGOV TSPL MX
SUBJECT: NANOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH TAKING ROOT IN NUEVO LEON

REF: Subj: Reftel: A) 2007 Monterrey 783 B) 2008 Monterrey 306

MONTERREY 00000456 001.2 OF 002


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MONTERREY 000456

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT PASS OES/SAT

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EFIN EIND EINT EINV PGOV TSPL MX
SUBJECT: NANOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH TAKING ROOT IN NUEVO LEON

REF: Subj: Reftel: A) 2007 Monterrey 783 B) 2008 Monterrey 306

MONTERREY 00000456 001.2 OF 002



1. (SBU) Summary. Nuevo Leon's Nanotechnology Incubator, the
state's newest addition to its nanotechnology infrastructure, is
nearing completion and promises to provide pilot scale
production facilities to multiple institutes working together to
further nanotechnology initiatives in northeastern Mexico.
Along with the Monterrey branch of the Center of Investigation
in Advanced Materials (CIMAV),this incubator will provide a
locus for nanotechnology research in Nuevo Leon. While progress
in this field appears to be slow, it is steady, and more
opportunities for bilateral collaboration cooperation may become
available in the near future. Nevertheless, Nuevo Leon's
short-term vision for the project may be more than it can
deliver. End summary.


2. (U) In September, former Governor Jose Natividad Gonzalez
Paras unveiled Nuevo Leon's new "Nanotechnology Incubator" to
American and European scientists during the "Nano Forum
Monterrey; Industrial Applications of Nanotechnology" event.
The convention, hosted by a consortium of Nuevo Leon public and
private research institutions, took place at Monterrey's
Research and Technological Innovation Park (PIIT),where the
Nanotechnology Incubator is situated.

PIIT Brings Together Multiple Players
--------------


3. (U) While the Nanotechnology Incubator was - and remains -
unoccupied and incomplete, its inauguration allowed Gonzalez
Paras the opportunity to showcase the PIIT, arguably his
administration's greatest achievement towards establishing
Monterrey as an "International City of Knowledge" and expanding
Nuevo Leon's technology infrastructure. The inauguration also
allowed Gonzalez Paras to showcase the progress that his state
has made in developing other nanotechnology research facilities
and increasing coordination among academic, government, and

commercial entities working in that field. For example, within
the PIIT itself, the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon (UANL),
the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM),the
University of Arizona (UA),the firms Sigma Alimentos and CYDSA,
and multiple divisions of the XIGNUX Group are establishing
facilities that will all have assets dedicated to nanotechnology
research. Significantly, Mexico's flagship nanotechnology
research institute, the Center of Investigation in Advanced
Materials (CIMAV),has already established its Monterrey branch
at the PIIT. The CIMAV branch serves as the anchor for Nuevo
Leon's growing nanotechnology cluster, which includes (in
addition to the above noted institutions) approximately 20 more
private firms.

CIMAV Monterrey Up and Running
--------------


4. (SBU) CIMAV Monterrey is currently staffed with 12 research
scientists with specialties ranging from polymers and compound
materials, to surface and interface analyses, computational
chemistry, and material and theoretical physics. Dr. Jesus
Gonzalez Hernandez, CIMAV General Director, told local media
that he expects the center to have approximately 100 scientists
by 2012, supported by an equal number of technicians along with
administrative staff. The lab is well equipped, including
cathode erosion deposit equipment, an X-ray microfluorescence
spectrometer, focalized ion beam equipment, two X-ray
difractometers, and various classes of scanning electron
microscopes. According to Gonzalez, the Monterrey branch is
currently focused on ceramic, metallic, and compound materials,
and research into alternative energy. In the long term, the
team plans to work on bio-nanotechnology projects. (Note: The
Chihuahua-based CIMAV, Mexico's closest equivalent to the U.S.
Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) at the Sandia
National Laboratories, was established in 1994. End note)

Nanotechnology Incubator Nearing Completion
--------------


5. (U) Econoff visited the PIIT's Nanotechnology Incubator and
found that it is approximately 80% complete. The facility is a
located in a small, two-story building, and will focus on the
production of nanomaterials at the pilot scale. The ground
floor includes laboratories equipped for the production of
titanium and other metallic oxides, metallic chlorides, metals,
semiconductors, and compound materials at the rate of kilograms
per hour by diverse means such as physical-chemical methods,
humidity treatment, and ultrasonic dispersing. The facility
will use dedicated equipment to produce carbon nanotubes with a
capacity also measured in kilograms per day. The incubator

MONTERREY 00000456 002.2 OF 002


hosts aerosol equipment capable of applying nanoscale coats of
chemical treatment to glass, plastic, metal and ceramic
superficies.

Realistic Goals
--------------


6. (SBU) Dr. Jaime Parada, Director General of Nuevo Leon's
Institute of Research and Technology Transfer (I2T2),emphasized
that Nuevo Leon's ambitions in the field of nanotechnology
remained firmly "down to earth." Noting that Monterrey was a
city whose prosperity had depended on companies that specialized
in the production of materials such as steel, glass, copper,
ceramics, and cement, Parada explained that local manufacturers
were presently focused on developing nanotechnology for the
manufacture of materials and appliances already well established
within the local economy. For example, Sigma Alimentos is
working to lower its costs by creating lighter packaging for its
yoghurt products. Viakable, a division of the XIGNUX Group,
seeks to create more efficient conductors and insulators for
electrical wire. Whirlpool plans to develop better insulators
to build more efficient refrigerators, and LAMOSA is
investigating the possibility of imbuing ceramics with
antibacterial properties.

Worries about Nanotechnology?
--------------


7. (SBU) Parada noted that while there are some in Mexico who
echo concerns expressed elsewhere regarding potential health
risks or negative environmental impact, Mexico has "only just
begun" in this field of research and has less understanding of
nanotechnology than the U.S. He added that government agencies
such as the Secretariat of the Environment (SMA),the Attorney
General for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA),and the Federal
Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS)
have worked to educate the public about the potential benefits
of nanotechnology. In Dr. Parada's opinion, more efforts in
public education may be required in the future as research
efforts lead to large-scale commercial application, but he is
not concerned about public perception at this point.

Funding Steady
--------------


8. (SBU) Parada did not believe that even in light of the
economic crisis or the exceptional level of debt carried by the
state of Nuevo Leon the new administration of Governor Rodrigo
Medina would reduce its commitment to investment in the PIIT,
the Nanotechnology Incubator, or the other state facilities
participating in the nanotechnology cluster. He added that
Governor Medina shared his predecessor's commitment to the
investment in the PIIT research park. He noted that the
installation of some facilities - such as the Nanotech Incubator
- was behind schedule, but said that this was not attributable
to reduced funding or participation on the part of the state
government, but rather to delays typical to any such
complicated, large scale endeavor.


9. (SBU) Comment: The new Nanotechnology Incubator is
scheduled to be completed as early as the first quarter of 2010.
At that point, Nuevo Leon will have made significant strides in
establishing the research infrastructure and synergy among
various sectors of the research institution to pursue
nanotechnology projects in earnest. In addition to
collaboration with U.S. Universities in Texas and Arizona, the
PIIT has signed bilateral agreements with sister institutions in
both Brazil and Spain to collaborate on nanotechnology research.
Yet actual initiatives - and in particular, increases in
staffing - are moving more slowly than anticipated. Until more
local manufacturers become genuinely interested in higher
technology products and production applications, it seems that
Nuevo Leon's expectations for its project may be grander than
what it can deliver in the short-term.
WILLIAMSON