Nanotechnology

The University of Utah will break ground in summer of 2009 on the $130 million James L. Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building in Salt Lake City. The 193,000-sf project is part of the $500 million Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR) and will anchor the University’s new Interdisciplinary Quadrangle. Housing advanced imaging and nanotechnology laboratories, the facility will include a 20,000-sf nanofabrication suite. The multidisciplinary building will support biomedical and neuroscience research.

Purdue University is planning to construct the $18 million Seng-Liang Wang Hall in West Lafayette, Ind. Housing the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the 39,370-sf facility is slated for completion in 2010. The project will include the Robert and Janet Fenwick Very-Large-Scale Integration and Circuit Design Complex, a computational lab, research laboratories, conference rooms, interaction space, and faculty offices. The project will include specialized research laboratories for optics, photonics, circuit design, and computational nanoelectronics.

Leibniz University is building the €14 million Nano and Quantum Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, Germany. The project includes 430 sm of chemical, measurement and laser laboratories; 509 sm of researcher workrooms; and a 410 sm cleanroom. The facility was designed by architect KSP Engel and Zimmerman. Completion is slated for summer of 2009.

The University at Buffalo (SUNY) is planning to construct a 130,000-sf facility for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in Buffalo, N.Y. Designed by Perkins + Will, the $73 million building will house flexible laboratories, classrooms, and seminar rooms for interdisciplinary research and education. The project will include a 5,000-sf cleanroom for the development of technologies such as biosensors and therapeutic nanoparticles. Groundbreaking is expected in summer of 2009.

The University of Illinois dedicated the newly renovated and expanded Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory (MNTL) in Urbana-Champaign on September 4, 2008. The $18 million project created additional laboratory, classroom, research, and meeting facilities. The expansion will support research for the National Science Foundation-funded Center for Compound Semiconductor Microelectronics. The MNTL houses research laboratories for micro and nanoelectronics, nanophotonics and optoelectronics, nanomedicine and bionanotechnology, MEMS/NEMS, and integrated systems research.

The University of New Mexico will receive $750,000 from the U.S. Department of Commerce to support the fourth phase of development at its Manufacturing Training and Technology Center in Albuquerque. The existing 56,000-sf facility includes a 6,200-sf training cleanroom. The fourth phase will expand the center’s lab-based training programs supporting the industries of biotechnology, nanotechnology, and medical devices.

IBM is partnering with The Swiss Technical University (ETH) to construct a £44 million nanotechnology laboratory near Zurich, Switzerland. Housing 900-sm of cleanroom space, the facility will accommodate 268-sm for IBM, 258-sm for ETH, and 400-sm of shared research space. The building will be sited on IBM’s Rueschlikon campus and will house temperature-stable laboratories protected from vibrations and EMI. The facility will accommodate research on nanotubes, nano-optics, spintronics, and carbon-based materials.

The Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory has selected M+W Zander to design its new nanotechnology center on the campus of the University of Minho in Braga, Portugal. The 230,000-sf project will feature Class 100 and 1000 cleanrooms and central characterization suites, including electron and scanning probe microscopy. The first phase of the project includes a nanotechnology research building and accommodations for visiting scientists. The second phase is comprised of a business incubator and a nanotechnology interpretive center.

The University of Waterloo broke ground on the $160 million Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre (QNC) in June of 2008. Uniting research and engineering in quantum information technology and nanotechnology, the five-story facility will house the Institute for Quantum Computing, the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, and undergraduate nanotechnology engineering instruction. The 280,000-sf interdisciplinary facility will include faculty offices, two atria, teaching and research labs, seminar rooms, a 10,000-sf fabrication cleanroom, and a metrology suite.

Bristol University’s £11 million Centre for Nanoscience and Quantum Information is slated for completion in summer of 2008. Featuring laboratories with extremely low vibration, acoustic noise, and air movement, the £10.6 million, four-story project began construction in October of 2006. The project team includes architect Capita Percy Thomas, contractor Willmott Dixon, and project manager Capita Symonds.

The University of Southampton will open the £55 million Mountbatten Building in late 2008 in Southampton, UK. Connecting on all levels to the existing Zepler Building, the interdisciplinary nanotechnology and microelectronics facility will include cleanrooms, research laboratories, and offices. Housing the School of Electronics and Computer Sciences and the Optoelectronics Research Centre, the facility will accommodate the fabrication and characterization of materials with a concentration on the structuring and modifying of materials at the nanoscale.

The University of Michigan dedicated the Robert H. Lurie Nanofabrication Facility at the School of Engineering in Ann Arbor on April 12, 2008. Designed by SmithGroup, the project is a 32,000-sf addition to the existing Solid State Electronics Laboratory (SSEL) cleanroom facility. Featuring a three-level cleanroom concept, the project includes a fab, sub-fab, and mechanical space.

The University of Oregon in Eugene dedicated the $16 million Lorry I. Lokey Science Complex in February of 2008. The underground nanotechnology research laboratory is associated with the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute, a consortium that includes the University of Oregon, Oregon Health & Science University, Oregon State University, Portland State University, Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, and nanoscience industry partners.

The University of Utah received $1.25 million from the Micron Technology Foundation to support the creation of a nanofabrication research and teaching laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah. The gift will support construction of a core nanofabrication facility in a 185,000-sf building under development for the new Utah Science, Technology and Research (USTAR) initiative. The nanofabrication laboratory, which will occupy 10 percent of the building, will be built with vibration-free cleanroom technology.

The University of Pennsylvania has selected SmithGroup to design the Neural and Behavioral Sciences (NBS) building in Philadelphia. Connecting to the existing Carolyn Lynch Laboratory, the facility will house teaching and research space for biology, psychology, and behavioral sciences. Creating a new gateway to the campus, the project will also include an auditorium and space for interdisciplinary programs to foster interaction and collaboration among researchers.