Costa Rica graduates country’s first nanotechnology technicians

The Technology Institute of Costa Rica will graduate on Wednesday the first generation of technicians in nanotechnology, a first in the region. President Laura Chinchilla will host the ceremony at the Casa Presidencial auditorium, in the southeastern San José district of Zapote.

A career in nanotechnology is considered by Chinchilla’s government as “one of the options needed to increase academic competitiveness,” according to a 2008 government study. Nanotechnology refers to the control of matter at an atomic scale, and it manages building blocks that are smaller than that of a virus, as it is based on the manipulation of atoms and molecules.

Nanotechnology is used in solar cells, hydrogen storage, better batteries, faster computers with more memory and lightweight antibacterial textiles that are odor-free and stain resistant. The technology is also used in self-cleaning windows, fertilizers and herbicides, among others.