VZCZCXRO5775
PP RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
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 
 
 
¶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