Industry News

Michigan Technological University is planning to break ground in spring of 2010 on the $25.3 million Great Lakes Research Center in Houghton. The 49,500-sf facility will house aquatic laboratories, offices, conference rooms, a hydraulics lab, coastal research instrumentation, and boathouse facilities. The Great Lakes Research Center will also provide space for collaborative research with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Research and Development Center Environmental Laboratory in Vicksburg, Miss.

Kimberly-Clark, a leader in non-woven technologies, announces the availability of its newest line of high-efficiency filtration media for Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system air filters. Based on the company’s patented, bi-component, nonwoven technology, the new media is ideal for a range of HVAC filter styles delivering MERV 11-15 performance.

Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. broke ground in November of 2009 on a $1.2 billion polysilicon manufacturing plant in Clarksville, Tenn. Slated for completion in 2012, the facility will house approximately 500 employees. Polysilicon is a raw material used to make solar cells and semiconductor devices. Michigan-based Hemlock Semiconductor is a joint venture between Dow Corning Corp. and two Japanese companies, Shin-Etsu Handotai Co. and Mitsubishi Materials Corp.

Michigan State University broke ground on the $1.8 million Center for Renewable Energy Research and Technology Transfer in East Lansing in November of 2009. Providing over 6,000-sf of research space, the building will house the International Renewable Energy Technology Institute and an emissions laboratory. Completion is expected in mid-2010.

Roche opened its $500 million biologics manufacturing facility in Singapore in fall of 2009. Located in the Tuas Biomedical Park, the two-building complex will support advanced pharmaceutical production. The project was initiated by Genentech, now a subsidiary of Roche.