[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 17296-17297]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       LOUISIANA TECH UNIVERSITY

 Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, today I wish to acknowledge 
Louisiana Tech University for its scientific breakthrough and 
innovation in the department of nanotechnology. I would like to take a 
few moments to expand on Louisiana Tech's achievements and wish the 
facility and student body continued success.
  Nanotechnology is the art of manipulating materials on an atomic and 
molecular level, and Louisiana Tech University has risen to the top of 
this scientific threshold. This year a trade magazine, Small Times, 
ranked LA Tech third in micro and nanotechnology education. Small Times 
evaluated each college based on various criteria, and Louisiana Tech 
surfaced as one of the elite universities. Louisiana Tech also stands 
as one of the only universities in the country that offers a 
nanotechnology degree at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. 
Their diversity within the program, and their excellence in both 
faculty innovation and curriculum ranks them among the best major 
scientific universities.
  Louisiana Tech University also ranked tenth in the Nation for 
commercializing nanotechnology inventions, or the capability to process 
patents and turn them into profitable ideas. The university alone 
applied for 24 patent applications in the last year,

[[Page 17297]]

20 of which involved micro and nanotechnology, proving Louisiana Tech's 
dedication as a national contributor to the scientific spectrum. As 
Louisiana Tech blossoms, many profitable institutions have invested and 
settled within the university, such as Avoyelles Renewable Fuels, which 
is working to discover a way to convert biomass waste into a biofuel 
through a nanocatalyst.
  I would also like to take a moment to honor Joshua Michael Brown. At 
Louisiana Tech University, he became this first person in the entire 
world to graduate with a nanosystems engineering degree. He will 
continue at Louisiana Tech University in order to gain his doctorate in 
micronanotechnology.
  Thus, today I congratulate Louisiana Tech for its innovation in the 
ever-changing fields of science, and I look forward to the continued 
growth of the school and its students as they shape the future 
development of micro and nanotechnology.

                          ____________________