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In this chapter, we examine the development of a technology path in the nanotube (NT) field – one of the most well-developed areas of nanotechnology. Although early developments suggested that there were equally viable pathways related to the development of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and others made with organic molecules and polymers, carbon-based technologies became valorized. We show how the carbon science path developed and try to unpack how it happened. We argue that it was not due to the inherent efficiency or applications of CNTs, but to sociopolitical dynamics. Even though much intellectual property research focuses on patent-level analysis, we underscore the importance of patent categories as key cognitive elements that organize the different knowledge domains within the world of NT patenting. We show that interlinkages between patent categories are crucial to the formation and development of a particular technology path. In unpacking the selection of the carbon science path, we highlight the key role played by a cadre of star scientists and the political neglect of alternative pathways as the field herded toward the CNT path.

Although the cottage industry of neoinstitutional research gained its momentum through a conceptual architecture that was centred on a bifurcation of technological/material forces and cultural dynamics, current research in this genre has begun to re-examine the utility of such distinctions. One of the downsides of such a conceptual distinction is that the institutional approach to technology is anachronistic, treating it as an exogenous force. Even though early work by Woodward and others usefully contributed to our understanding of organizations by highlighting how different technologies correlate with various organizational forms, recent scholarship has enhanced our more functional understanding of technology by highlighting processes of coevolution and structuration. In this chapter, we draw on such social constructionist developments in the study of technology to reanimate institutional analysis. More specifically, drawing on the case of the development of nanotube intellectual property, we focus on how technological knowledge production is embedded in community cultures. Our arguments and evidence suggest that there are distinctive community cultures around intensive versus extensive knowledge-generating patents, highlighting how an approach that appreciates the interactive dynamics of technology and culture can yield important insights into the institutional dynamics of technology development.

Studies have shown that actors who affiliate with multiple categories generally do so at their own peril. Still, category spanning is routinely observed, although it is less understood. We address this gap by a longitudinal study of category spanning among nanotube technology inventors. Our results highlight the importance of the evolving structure of category relationships, actor embeddedness within the structure, and interactions with other factors, including the attractiveness of related categories. When a category is relationally similar to others, associated inventors are more likely to engage in category spanning, whereas when a category is dissimilar, inventors are more likely to remain within it.

Plastic has been a very useful material which is very cheap, easy to carry and is resilient to biodegradation. That is why plastic has been used, sometimes reused, and overused due to the reasons mentioned above. As a result, landfills and oceans are full of plastic. But if we consider all the negative health effects, environmental / ecological effects it has in present times, we can understand that it is environmentally very expensive to use plastic. Bangladesh is a relatively young country with dense population and limited resource. Proper management of plastic remains an issue with the country. Considering these, this chapter focuses on how plastic is used, how it is treated as waste and what can be possible solutions in reducing the amount of plastic in Bangladesh.

How do radical technological fields become naturalized and taken for granted? This is a fundamental question given both the positive and negative hype surrounding the emergence of many new technologies. In this chapter, we study the emergence of the US nanotechnology field, focusing on uncovering the mechanisms by which leaders of the National Nanotechnology Initiative managed hype and its concomitant legitimacy challenges which threatened the commercial viability of nanotechnology. Drawing on the cultural entrepreneurship literature at the interface of strategy and organization theory, we argue that the construction of a naturalizing frame – a frame that focuses attention and practice on mundane, “rationalized” activity – is key to legitimating a novel and uncertain technological field. Leveraging the insights from our case study, we further develop a staged process model of how a naturalizing frame may be constructed, thereby paving the way for a decrease in hype and the institutionalization of new technologies.

Successful technology commercialization requires the integration of multiple perspectives and collaboration of experts from very different backgrounds. More often than not, key individuals in the process reside in different organizational units – each with their own mission, agenda, and culture. In large corporations, successful commercialization ultimately depends on coordination of marketing, legal, and research and development (R&D) personnel distributed across the firm. And, as innovation systems become more open, large and small companies alike increasingly collaborate with nonprofit institutions, either for technological expertise or as a source of inventions themselves (Chesbrough, 2003; Thursby, Thursby, & Fuller, 2009).

The purpose of this chapter is to describe the climate and practice of undergraduate research in selected Science and Engineering departments at Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge (SUBR), Louisiana, from 1994 to 2014. We briefly recall the long tradition of undergraduate research participation and the accompanying mentoring at SUBR. The establishment of the Timbuktu Academy in 1990–1991, with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), followed two years of review of the literature in teaching, mentoring, and learning. The paradigm and Ten Strand Systemic Mentoring model of the Academy, with a major funding by the Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research (ONR), have sustained a research-based and practice-verified creation of a highly supportive and challenging research eco-system for selected science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate scholars, one that integrates seamlessly education and research.

Key enabling technologies (KETs) are a set of six technological components that work together to address social challenges and build advanced for sustainable economies. Industry 5.0, the next industrial development, is designed to capitalize on specialists' unique creativity while also collaborating with powerful, intelligent, and precise technologies. Industry 5.0 outsourced repetitive and monotonous activities to robots/machines requiring employees to perform activities that involve critical thinking and are based on the 6R (Recognize, Reconsider, Realize, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle), to improve production quality. With numerous supporting technical advancements, advanced and quick manufacturing concentrating on the interaction of machines and humans may be produced. Maintaining healthcare and nursing care, evaluating patients' health requirements using KETs, and giving care with manpower are all major advancements in Industry 5.0 today. Future studies may focus on providing healthcare using mainly technology and, therefore, no human workers. This chapter highlights healthcare advances in Industry 5.0, where KETs and people collaborate to create and innovate. In this framework, the purpose of this chapter is to present the deployment of KETs in the nursing patient care process.