ALBANY — Big news for the mid-valley’s long-term economic picture may come through thinking small, according to Skip Rung, executive director of the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute in Corvallis.

“The basis of nanoscience is getting greater performance from less material,” Rung said. “That means making every atom work harder.”

Nanotechnology can be found in many disciplines including the development of flat panel displays, transparent transistors, electronic, medical and pharmaceutical applications, and miniature reactors for biofuel, hydrogen and chemical production.

Rung talked about the project, which was incubated under former Gov. John Kitzhaber, during Wednesday’s Albany Chamber of Commerce forum held at the Lum Yuen Restaurant. Nanoscience includes working with materials as small as one-billionth of an inch.

ONAMI is a cooperative effort that includes staff and expertise from Oregon State University, the University of Oregon, Portland State University, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

The United States can best be competitive on the international economic front “by doing things other countries can’t, or by doing them more efficiently,” Rung said. There is no sense trying to “race to the bottom” with countries like China, where people are paid just pennies per hour, he said. Their pennies-per-hour wages won’t support an affluent lifestyle here.

Rung said emerging technology has long been a major economic driver. He said the mid-valley was fortunate to land the Bureau of Mines in the 1940s. From that entity has sprung many high-paying specialty metals jobs. The same is true of the Hewlett-Packard plant in Corvallis.

“The price of affluence is constant innovation and with that comes change and stress,” Rung said. “Everyone has a stake in a competitive trade sector because it raises the wage and living standards for all of us.”

The mid-valley is also home to both Oregon State University and the University of Oregon, which are highly regarded on a national scale, Rung said. Many research projects undertaken by the universities have a direct line of sight to private industry, especially development of computer microchips. Oregon — thanks to companies such as Intel and Hewlett-Packard — is a world leader in microtechnology, Rung said.

ONAMI has received $21 million in state funding since 2003. Rung said about $10 million is earmarked for the next biennium.

Alex Paul can be reached at alex.paul@lee.net or 812-6076.