EU research commissioner visits IBM Research - Zurich Laboratory

Zurich, Switzerland, 1 March 2004—Philippe Busquin visited IBM Research - Zurich in Rüschlikon on March 1 to get a personal impression of the scope of work pursued here. Busquin is the member of the European Commission responsible for research programs within the EU.

EU Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin (right)
with IBM scientist Jean-Pierre Locquet in front of
sophisticated machinery used to create precisely
defined thin films of new materials for future
computer chips. In addition to general information about the focus areas of the research pursued at IBM’s European laboratory, the prestigious guest from Brussels was particularly interested in current work in the fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Ever since the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) at the IBM Zurich Research Lab, the location has been considered the birth place of nanoscience and continues to enjoy an international reputation as a leader of the field. The STM, which brought its inventors the Nobel prize in 1986, is still making a vital contribution to the exploration of the nanocosmos at laboratories throughout the world.

Discussions about other research areas to which scientists in Rüschlikon contribute their expertise as a part of research programs of the European Union were also conducted. The IBM Laboratory is currently involved in more than a dozen EU projects, the topics of which range from privacy protection in the Internet to new materials and technologies for computer components to new methods of wireless data transmission. Philippe Busquin emphasized the importance of leading technology firms such as IBM taking part in research programs of the EU.