Nanotechnology has opened up a wide frontier such as faster electronics, huge storage capacities for PCs, cheaper energy through efficient energy conversion, and so on. However, before these future possibilities become commercial realities, researchers must be able to fully characterise nanotech material and device properties. Tools and techniques, such as scanning electron emission and ultra-violet microscopy, provide valuable information on nanostructures. However, electrical characterisation is essential to understand what is happening beneath the surface of nanomaterials. For example, gate dielectrics in advanced semiconductors can have thickness dimensions of less than one nanometer; the performance of these dielectrics can only be predicted by evaluating their equivalent electrical thickness. Similar considerations apply to carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and silicon wires, which are the basis for many nanotech innovations. Government funding supports a large proportion of fundamental research in nanotechnologies. To move beyond basic research, it is crucial for companies to build partnerships with university labs and companies with complementary expertise. This is especially true in testing, where complex devices and materials have diverse properties that present unique measurement challenges. Historically, many scientific advances occur only after suitable investigative instruments become available, so nanotech researchers must either rely on instrumentation companies or take time away from R&D to develop their own measurement systems. More often than not, research specialists know the material and device physics intimately, but are not experts in measurement technology. They are usually under pressure to commercialise research results as quickly as possible, and often do not have the time or resources to spare to develop in-depth measurement expertise. On the other hand, instrument companies have the resources and expertise in measurement but do not have the insight that researchers possess to develop measurement innovations that will advance the state of the art more quickly. This is because nanotechnology cuts across multiple scientific disciplines, including electrical and electronic engineering, computer science, biotechnology, materials engineering, chemistry and physics. This translates into commercial pressures on instrumentation manufacturers that cannot afford the time needed to become experts in all these disciplines. In this world, partnerships can allow them to leverage the expertise of individuals and organisations to create better solutions for researchers. Therefore, alliances between instrumentation designers and manufacturers of nanomanipulation and nanoprobing tools have become essential in constructing a complete measurement solution. An example of this is Keithley’s alliance with Zyvex Corp., a manufacturer of probers and nanomanipulation systems. This allows scientists and engineers to manipulate objects ranging in size down to the molecular level under a scanning electron microscope. By integrating Zyvex technology with Keithley’s nano-level measurement expertise, researchers get powerful new solutions that neither company alone could provide. By working together closely, nanotechnology researchers and instrumentation manufacturers can create innovative and comprehensive measurement solutions that are essential for developing the next generation of nanostructures, nanomaterials, and semiconductor devices. These partnerships are likely to be instrumental in speeding up the transfer of nanotechnology from the research lab to the production environment.