By the end of this month, Chicago-based Boeing Co., Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford Motor Co. and Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., expect to announce final agreement to form a nanotechnology research alliance. Boeing and Ford are to provide financial support for three years, and Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science is to provide administration and office space.
While the initial focus of the research is to be on nanotechnology, the alliance's potential research could also include specialty metals, thermal materials, coatings and sensors, its backers say.
