COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 20 -- Srico Inc. was awarded a $100,000 contract by the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research to develop high-speed optical waveguide components that combine a new materials technology with miniature optical chip design. This work is funded under the US Department of Defense Small Business Technology Transfer program. The materials technology was developed by Northwestern University, which will work with Srico engineers to apply the materials technology to the development of commercial optical components for telecommunications, sensors and medical devices. Srico said these new components will benefit from the emerging field of nanotechnology. "Nanoscale science, engineering and technology are of such interest to the US government that it has created a multiagency National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI)," said Scrico in a news release. "Under this initiative, money is earmarked for research and development in ten federal departments and independent agencies. The NNI focuses on long-term research on the manipulation of matter at the atomic and molecular levels, giving us an unprecedented ability to create building blocks for advanced products such as new classes of devices as small as molecules and machines as small as human cells," Srico said. Srico is a Columbus-based technology development company that specializes in optical integrated circuits and optoelectronic subsystems for telecommunications, test and measurement, and patient monitoring. For more information, visit: www.srico.com