Thermo Fisher Scientific has opened a new facility housing analytical instrument operations and a demonstration center in Reinach, Switzerland, near Basel.

The new facility consolidates the Flux Instruments and Spectronex product lines that Thermo Fisher obtained through its acquisition of SwissAnalytic Group in January 2007. That acquisition added a variety of mass spectrometry, chromatography, and surface science instrumentation products to Thermo Fisher’s offerings.

The new 12,000-square-foot facility includes a 3,200 square-foot demonstration lab that contains new Thermo Fisher mass spectrometers, other lab instruments, and consumables. Customers will be able to work with Thermo Fisher’s technical experts at the lab to gain hands-on experience with the equipment.

SUNY’s Binghamton University Starts Construction on $66 Million Science-Engineering Building

Binghamton University, part of the State University of New York system, has marked the start of construction on a new $66 million, 125,000-square-foot Science and Engineering Building, which will serve as a centerpiece for the school’s Innovative Technologies Complex.

The project is expected to be completed by August of 2011 and is expected to generate 1,500 new construction jobs.

Binghamton University’s sponsored research funding increased 24 percent in the last year alone, and the school has estimated its economic impact in the state’s Southern Tier region at $673 million.

Cal State Northridge Has Come a Long Way in 50 Years

In a basement lab at California State University, Northridge, students don astronaut-like white suits to study the tiniest of molecules.

Having a nanotechnology lab boasting $100,000 microscopes represents a giant leap for a university that 50 years ago sprouted amid orange groves and squash fields.

"It was all temporary buildings then, maybe 2,000 people on the entire campus," said Vince Barabba, a member of the school's founding class. "It was a close-knit environment where students and faculty came together. It was a rare opportunity to start a college with a clean slate."

Now, as the school celebrates its 50th anniversary, it is also engaging in its largest construction boom ever, including the addition of a $100 million performing arts center. And its enrollment has grown more than tenfold since those early days, reaching a record 36,600 this fall.

"We have had about 190,000 alums in 50 years. We are educating more teachers than the entire UC system and we are one of the largest employers in the San Fernando Valley, employing about 4,000 people," said CSUN President Jolene Koester. "This university has always been focused on this region."

The college began to plow its green space to make room for new classrooms, a library and student housing, and students began to ask for change inside the classroom.

By 1968, it felt its first round of growing pains when African-American and Chicano students, encouraged by the nation's ongoing civil rights movement, started protesting the school's lack of minorities.

As a result, CSUN created Pan-African Studies and Chicano/Chicana Studies departments as part of the agreement reached between student leaders and administrators. Today, the program serves 5,000 students a semester and is one of the largest of its kind in the country.

In 1994, CSUN was faced with a different kind of movement when the 6.7-magnitude Northridge Earthquake left most of the campus in rubble, with more than $300 million worth of damage. It reopened weeks later in temporary bungalows with a lower enrollment, but 14 years later it has fully recovered.

For many, like nanotechnology professor Henk Postma, the mission remains clear. A Caltech doctoral graduate, he could have taught students the intricacies of the nanometer at pretty much any college. But the Netherlands native said CSUN held a special attraction for him.

"I like the fact that we are teaching these types of students who typically don't go to research institutions - first-generation students," he said. "It's so important to engage these types of students.

HP Expands Presence in China with New PC Plant

HP plans to operate a 20,000-square-meter (215,200 sq. ft.) facility in Chongqing, where it will make notebook and desktop PCs for customers in China, according to the terms of a memorandum of understanding with the Chongqing Municipality.

Manufacturing operations are expected to begin in 2010. When in full operation, the HP-managed plant is expected to have the capacity to meet market demand in Chongqing as well as other parts of China across government, public and retail sectors.

Chongqing is one of the fastest growing cities in China. The city has 500,000 university students and more than 1,000 R&D institutions. In addition to the educated work force, development conditions offered by the local government made the development attractive to HP.

The news follows a joint announcement related to an HP Global Call Center to provide sales-related support for HP products and services and the development of an information-sharing platform for Chongqing's University Town that will help reduce redundant IT investments by tertiary institutions.

EV Group Gets Orders for Systems

EV Group (EVG), a leading supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, announced that three European universities — Southampton University, University of Ulster and Technische Universitat Braunschweig — have placed orders for multiple EVG systems. These follow-on order wins for leading-edge MEMS research are for next-generation EVG systems, totaling in excess of US$2.9 million.

Notably, the United Kingdom (UK)-based Southampton University purchased the largest photolithography/MEMS equipment order by a university in the UK for The Southampton Nanofabrication Centre, its new state-of-the art cleanroom set to open this fall -- equipping the organization with the most comprehensive manufacturing capability in the MEMS field of any UK educational institution. Tools purchased include several of EVG's most versatile systems for photolithography and MEMS manufacturing ideal for a research environment: the 150 coater with spin and spray coat capability; the 6200TR automatic topside microscope aligner; the 620T microscope aligner for training students in aligner techniques and processes; the 620TB manual load top and bottom-side microscope aligner for MEMS applications, such as creating microchannels by photo techniques and aligning wafers prior to bonding; and the 501 bonder for laminating dry film on to substrates prior to processing and wafer bonding. Shipment and installation of the tools will take place upon the completion of the clean room construction scheduled for this fall.

The University of Ulster and the Institute for Microtechnology at Technische Universitat Braunschweig each purchased an EVG620T -- a manual load topside microscope aligner -- for their respective MEMS R&D efforts. The EVG620 is EV Group's leading precision mask and bond aligner system from its EVG600 series. This versatile system is highly flexible enabling users to scale from R&D to high-volume production, and to adjust the tool for various application requirements. Both systems have been shipped and installed.

ONAMI in Oregon Gets $13.4-million

Oregon’s first and largest signature research center will receive $13.4 million in research funding from the $487.7 billion defense appropriations bill recently passed by Congress.

The Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute, a collaborative effort between Oregon’s four research universities and a national laboratory, was awarded funding for four separate research projects:

$2.4 million for the ongoing development of miniature tactical energy systems, a collaboration led by Richard Peterson of Oregon State University and Landis Kannberg of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA.

$4 million for research into safer nanomaterials and manufacturing, an effort led by Professor James Hutchison of University of Oregon

$4 million for research into nanoelectronics and nanoscale metrology, led by Professor John Carruthers at Portland State University

$3 million for research into nanoarchitecture for enhanced performance, a collaboration with the U.S. Army’s research laboratory

ONAMI was founded in 2004 with $20 million in state funds. Since then, researchers at the collaborative institute have been awarded $75 million in national and private research funds, as of June 30 this year. Oregon has appropriated another $17 million for ONAMI, of which $13.5 million has actually been paid to the institute.

The $13.4 million from the defense bill is the biggest single funding in ONAMI’s history. Since June, the institute has received several millions of additional research dollars that have not yet been publicly disclosed.

Dune Sciences Inc., a new Eugene company founded on Hutchison’s nanomaterials research, has been chosen as one of five companies that will compete for a $100,000 investment prize in next month’s Bend Venture Conference. Hutchison is Dune Sciences’ co-founder and chief science officer, and co-founder John Miller is the company’s CEO.

Center for Nanoscale Science Receives $13.2 million from NSF

Penn State's Center for Nanoscale Science has received a six-year, $13.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to continue research and educational activities in its Materials Research Science and Engineering Center.

The Penn State MRSEC will continue its research in four areas — nanoscale motors, nanowires, optical metamaterials and multiferroics — and will support a range of seed projects in organic solar cells, fuel cells and novel electronic materials.

MRSEC research has already led to new commercial reagents for nanoscale lithography and to new kinds of optical filters, optical fibers and light-trapping solar cells.

"The goal of the Center is to design and create new materials with unprecedented properties and functions, starting with nanometer-scale building blocks," said Thomas Mallouk, the DuPont Professor of Materials Chemistry and Physics at Penn State and director of the MRSEC.

University of Nebrask Receives $8.1 million from NSF

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has received an $8.1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to support the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center and its nanotechnology research through 2014.

UNL's center focuses on quantum and spin phenomena in nanomagnetic structures and is one of 26 such elite Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers in the nation. This grant continues support for the interdisciplinary research by UNL scientists and engineers associated with the center, which was established in 2002 with a $5.4 million NSF grant.

The center includes 20 UNL faculties from the departments of physics and astronomy, chemistry, chemical and biomolecular engineering, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering and one physicist from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The researchers collaborate to study new magnetic structures and materials at the nanoscale level -- as small as one-billionth of a meter. The center's research focuses on understanding the properties and performance of nanomaterials, a key step toward their use in a host of advanced technologies, said physics professor Evgeny Tsymbal, the center's director

The center's research has potential applications in areas such as advanced computing, data storage, energy production, handheld electronic devices, sensors and medical technologies. It also has a strong education and outreach program and has built ongoing collaborations with industry, national laboratories and scientists internationally.

Since 2002, research and discoveries by the center's faculty have garnered international attention, expanded understanding of magnetic nanostructures and phenomena and opened new possibilities for developing nanotechnology tools and techniques.

Nationwide, there are 27 MRSEC centers, each with a different technical focus. Universities compete for MRSEC funding every three years. In the current competition, Penn State and 13 other universities were selected for funding from among 100 universities that had submitted proposals.

New Home Planned for Engineers at University of Buffalo

The residents of the Engineering Trailer Complex alongside Jarvis Hall were displaced this past summer when it was demolished to make room for UB's growing engineering program.

Plans to fill the empty space and erect the new home to university engineers are underway according to Harvey Stenger, dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Tim Siderakis, assistant dean and senior director of development in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Construction on the new engineering building is set to begin in the summer of 2009. Both Siderakis and Stenger said that plans for the new building are currently on schedule.

The cost of the building is approximately $73 million. A portion of this, almost $50 million, is paid for by New York State. The rest of the money will come from private investors, companies and alumni, according to Siderakis.

Local business owner and UB School of Engineering alumnus Jack Davis recently gave $1.5 million to the project. Davis graduated from UB in 1955 with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering. Davis owns I Squared R Element Company, Inc., which makes silicon carbide heating elements often used in laboratory research.

The new building will have a 180-seat auditorium, a 5,000-square-foot clean room, about 180 faculty and staff offices, eight conference rooms and about a dozen new research laboratories.

The cleanroom will feature a filtering system that will rid the room of airborne particles, enabling intricate engineering research for projects involving fields like nanotechnology and biomedical engineering.

They hope to move in by fall 2011.

China’s Chemical Materials Industry Surpasses $80-Billion

Production values of China's new chemical material industry have surpassed $80 billion, according to information disclosed at a news conference on September 23. Chemical materials are widely used in various sectors, such as national defense, electronics, aviation and spaceflight, automobile, computers and petrochemicals.

In the past 10 years, the Chinese government has invested over $440 million to finance a batch of projects, including the construction of state laboratories, national research centers and important scientific projects. The government has also organized hundreds of hi-tech industrial projects for advanced materials, increasing investment in the chemicals sector tenfold and allowing breakthroughs in many areas of research and development.

The Second International Advanced Materials Summit will be held from October 30 to November 1 in Tianjin. The Summit is expected to attract leading enterprises in the chemicals sector from all over the world.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a marketing information service specializing in industrial process, energy and financial related markets with products and services ranging from industry news, analytics, forecasting, plant and project databases, as well as multimedia services.

Rohm and China's Tsinghua University Construct Engineering Hall

Rohm Co Ltd and China's Tsinghua University have reached an agreement to construct the Tsinghua-Rohm Electronic Engineering Hall in an effort to strengthen their relationship in the area of academic exchange.

The two parties have been actively collaborating in the development of electronic devices since April 27, 2006, with the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on Industry-Academia Cooperation. Tsinghua-Rohm Electronic Engineering Hall builds on that relationship by further strengthening this type of collaboration.

With an investment of approximately ¥2 billion, the Hall is expected to complete construction in April 2011,in time for the celebration of the university's 100th anniversary.

This R&D facility will bring such features as an international exchange center dedicated to promoting international collaboration between industry and academia, cleanroom space for the development of semiconductor devices, space for advanced LSI study and research, space for joint research by Tsinghua University and Rohm, and a 300-seat hall for academic presentations.

The two parties expect the facility to accumulate research information on which new industries can be built while demonstrating how a university can be broadly accessible to local and international society.

Custom Tool and Model Precision Manufacturing Can Expand with Grant

Custom Tool and Model, in Frankfort, NY, has put out the help wanted sign thanks in part to a $75,000 state economic assistance grant.

The company specializes in precision tool manufacturing and used the grant to purchase equipment and expand its capabilities.

John Piseck, sales engineer, said $50,000 contributed to the purchase of a Mazak CNC quick turn lathe made in Kentucky by a Japanese company.

The remaining $25,000 aided in the construction of a cleanroom required in manufacturing a variety of specific tools and instruments.

He said both cost well over $100,000, and would have been out of reach without the state funds. They also make it necessary to hire new employees.

The two additions secure the 20 current employees and will, “lead to additional jobs.”

The project, which should be completed in two months, is being housed in a building that already had radiant floor heating required for the room.

The next step involved installing a filtration system necessary for the two categories of “clean.”

CTM will be able to offer Class 1,000 and Class 100, (OSO Class Class 6 and class 5).

Albany NanoTech Will Open New Facility

Albany NanoTech will open a new facility--a massive operation that will focus on 22-nm R&D technology, post-CMOS processes and clean technology.

The previously-announced facility, NanoFab 300 East, is slated to open in early 2009. The $150 million project includes a 100,000-square-foot building, which itself will house a new and advanced 300-mm R&D fab.

It also includes an additional 250,000-square-foot office and laboratory building. This part will house the new headquarters of International Sematech, which recently moved its main office from Austin, Texas to Albany, thanks in part to generous incentives by the state.

It will also house a ''test farm'' in clean technology. One of the proposed projects in the facility is also 22-nm R&D. Leading-edge chip makers are just rolling out their 45-nm designs, with 32- and 22-nm in R&D. 22-nm devices could hit the market by 2011 or so.

The 22-nm effort is said to be led by IBM Corp.'s ''fab club." IBM and its partners already conduct R&D at Albany NanoTech. IBM's other joint development partners include, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd., Freescale Inc., Infineon Technologies AG, NEC Electronics Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., STMicroelectronics N.V. and Toshiba Corp.

This week, IBM claimed to make a big breakthrough in 22-nm. Amid probable delays with extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, IBM plans to extend 193-nm immersion and move towards ''computational scaling'' technology for the 22-nm node and perhaps beyond.

Current optical lithography is expected to hit the wall at the 32-nm node. ''Computational scaling'' is said to overcome those limits and extend 193-nm immersion.

A key to ''computation scaling'' is a partnership between IBM and Mentor, which plans to devise a new resolution enhancement technique (RET) to enable 22-nm designs and perhaps beyond. This RET technology is known as source-mask optimization, which is said to optimize both mask layout and illumination simultaneously to maximize image contrast in a scanner.

INDEX partners leading university researchers from Harvard University, Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Purdue University, Georgia Institute of Technology and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), with on-site corporate researchers from Intel, Micron, AMD, IBM, Texas Instruments and Freescale.

INDEX is part of the Nanoelectronics Research Initiative (NRI), a consortium of companies in the Semiconductor Industry Association. Semiconductor Research Corp. has formed a subsidiary — Nanoelectronics Research Corporation (NERC) — to administer the NRI research program

NanoNose Moves to Chapel Hill, NC

QualSec, developer of the NanoNose, has moved operations from North Logan, Utah to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Chapel Hill is part of North Carolina's acclaimed Research Triangle; the collaborative and innovative climate and a proximity to world-renowned research universities have helped the region become one of the most prominent high-tech research and development centers in the United States.

QualSec's NanoNose is the next generation of electronic nose (e-nose) technology, employing proprietary nanotechnology breakthroughs to instantaneously analyze and quantify airborne particles for the homeland security, health care, environmental, petrochemical, and food industries.

In 2005, the Triangle was named the most high-tech region of the U.S. by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and the best city for biotechnology by the Milken Institute. In 2004, Forbes named the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill one of the most entrepreneurial campuses in the nation.

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