OTHER ELECTRONICS & NANOTECHNOLOGY
UPDATE
October 2009
McIlvaine Company
TABLE OF CONTENTS
MSU’s Nuclear Physics Lab is Ready
Washington State University Applied Technology Classroom Planned
Foxconn Chengdu Investment to Focus on Optoelectronics
UW Breaks Ground on Nation's Largest Molecular Engineering Building
Flextronics to Build Design Center in Wuzhong
Russia Aims To Lead Nanotechnology Industry
Nanotech Research Launched by U.S. and EU
General Motors Opens Chinese Science Lab in Shanghai
Way out in the universe, inside huge exploding stars, interesting things are happening.
If you could shrug off the thermonuclear heat and poke around inside, you would find the same sorts of particles that eventually became you, your dog, your planet and everything and everybody you have ever seen, felt, tasted or known. Unfortunately, you can only find this primordial stuff cooking inside a distant supernova, where it only lasts a few seconds.
And one place else — Michigan State University’s nuclear physics lab, conveniently located near the MSU Dairy Store.
Last December, the U.S. Department of Energy gave MSU the thumbs-up to accelerate the lab’s power by a factor of thousands, or millions, depending on your yardstick.
A $14 million office building has already sprung up next to the lab, in preparation for the building and operation of the $550 million Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, or FRIB (say “ef-rib”). Funded by the Department of Energy, the lab will take about 10 years to design and build.
When it goes on line, MSU will have one of the world’s three top nuclear physics research facilities.
FRIB will attract top researchers and students from all over the world, but it’s not about university rankings. The MSU lab is diving headlong into the most basic research there is. Everything is made of atoms, and every atom has a nucleus in the middle. (The plural of “nucleus” — and these things are very plural — is “nuclei.”) When FRIB comes online, MSU physicists will be able to probe and tweak atomic nuclei as never before, creating and observing forms of matter found nowhere else on Earth.
The 56,000-square-foot Applied Technology classroom building is designed to be nestled into a sloping site on Washington State University’s campus near Vancouver, Wash. The four-story research laboratory building will have multiple pedestrian and accessible entry points, and include associated offices, laboratory space and clean-room support spaces.
This is the first phase of a two-phase project. Phase two of the project will consist of the Washington Technology Center; permitting will be done separately.
The Applied Technology building will provide a facility in which teaching and research will prepare students to meet the employment needs of high-demand fields in Southwest Washington, such as computer science and engineering.
This project includes cleanroom labs on the ground floor with mechanical and service space. Level 1 is comprised of a main-entry lobby, general classrooms and tiered classrooms. Levels two and three are comprised of research laboratories and office space. There are two radio frequency isolated labs located on level 3. The project also includes a small fan room, a radio transmitter room and an antenna well within the attic space.
Bid Package No. 1 for this project includes all work and includes CSI divisions 1 through 17 consisting of site work, concrete, masonry, metals, wood and plastics, thermal and moisture protection, doors and windows, finishes, specialties, equipment, furnishings, special construction conveying systems, mechanical, electrical and telecommunications.
The recent US$1 billion investment Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) promised to make in Chengdu, China will focus on manufacturing of optoelectronics products, according to the company.
Foxconn recently signed a contract with the Chengdu city government to establish a manufacturing base in the city with an estimated investment of US$1 billion. The new base in Chengdu will focus on manufacturing LCD TVs, LCD modules, LED backlight modules, and LED packaging and lighting products.
In addition to company chairman Terry Guo and officials from the local government, representative from Sony and Corning were present during the contract signing, showing the status Foxconn has in the LCD industry.
The new base is also expected to bring related supply chain partners to the area. This should create job opportunities for 100,000 locals, according to industry sources.
"It's incredibly exciting to see the building become a reality," said Matthew O'Donnell, Frank & Julie Jungers Dean of the College of Engineering. "This will be the first facility in the country dedicated to molecular engineering."
The completed building will consist of a 28,000-square-foot basement, an 8,000-square-foot sub-basement, and four above-ground levels each measuring about 12,000 square feet. The total building is about 90,000 square feet including hallways, utilities and common spaces.
The large underground space, protected from vibrations and electromagnetic interference, will be the largest such lab space on the West Coast. Above it will be a courtyard, and the above-ground building with preparatory laboratories and flexible research and teaching space.
The groundbreaking ceremony, at the site on Stevens Way near the west entrance to campus, included O'Donnell, UW Provost Phyllis Wise, UW Regent Bill Gates, Sr. and UW President Emeritus Lee Huntsman. Construction is now underway. The projected occupancy date is 2012.
Molecular engineering, sometimes called molecular manufacturing or molecular systems, is very small-scale construction made possible by advances in chemical synthesis and nanotechnology.
Engineers design individual functional molecules, or systems of molecules, on a computer and then create them according to plan. They can also synthesize machines where each working part is an individual molecule. The approach is to design molecular systems that can sense their surroundings and act accordingly. Such tiny systems can, for example, provide the working parts for flexible, cheap, efficient solar cells.
The current estimated project cost is $78 million. That figure includes construction, design and other expenses. Funding sources include state and internal UW funds, as well as debt and private gifts.
The building is expected to meet at least a LEED silver rating for energy savings, water efficiency, carbon dioxide emissions reduction and other measures. Designs include natural ventilation in the office spaces, a partial green roof, natural lighting and storm water management, all of which may ultimately qualify for an even higher LEED rating.
The design is by ZGF Architects of Seattle. The builder is Hoffman Construction Company of Seattle. Construction will employ 150 people on the job site at its peak, with an approximately equal number of people working off-site, said Trevor Thies, project operations manager of Hoffman Construction. The UW's project manager is Steve Tatge, senior project manager in the UW's Capital Projects Office.
The building's location was chosen partly because the natural vibration and electromagnetic interference are low at that site. Researchers will be making very sensitive measurements and any movement can interfere with the accuracy. The foundation will incorporate an extra-thick concrete slab and shielding from electromagnetic waves, and the building's utilities and elevators are engineered to minimize physical vibrations in the lab space.
"All of this adds to the cost of the building, but it also adds value," said Greg Miller, the College of Engineering's associate dean for infrastructure.
Long-term plans include a second building connected to the first. The second building would be slightly smaller than the first and include mainly teaching and office space.
"Molecular engineering is going to be right in the middle of a lot of the big societal problems -- energy, health care, communications," O'Donnell said. "I think it's going to be as central to new technologies in this century as mechanical, electrical, chemical and materials engineering were to technologies developed in the last century."
Energy and medicine are areas of immediate application, O'Donnell said. UW bioengineers, for instance, are designing molecules that can enter the body, recognize diseased cells and then deliver a genetic or other therapy to only those cells.
"Molecular medicine is a promise that has been out there for almost 30 years," O'Donnell said. "These are the systems that are going to be able to deliver molecular medicine."
Molecular engineering will not be a new department. Faculty in the departments of materials science, chemistry, chemical engineering and bioengineering are expected to be major users of the space, but it will be available to faculty from across campus as well as external research partners. A new UW Institute of Molecular Engineering & Sciences, expected to launch in early 2010, will oversee the facility.
The building will provide office space for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers; faculty will use it as a secondary base.
Singapore-based EMS giant Flextronics International has announced that it will expand its presence in China through the development of a new facility in Wuzhong, Jiangsu province.
Flextronics International Ltd will expand its presence in China with the development of a new facility in the Wuzhong Export Processing Zone. The facility will support the growing demand for computing products in China and will include a design center and extended manufacturing capabilities. The design center will be completed by the end of 2009 and the manufacturing facility is expected to be completed by the end of 2010.
In addition to the present manufacturing facility in Wujiang, Suzhou, Flextronics currently also has computing design centers in Shanghai and Wujiang (Suzhou). Wuzhong will be positioned as the company's main development center in China for computing products.
"Today's signing ceremony is an important event that allows Flextronics and Wuzhong government officials the opportunity to share the vision of this design center and discuss its significance in supporting China's market growth for notebooks and desktop products," said Sean Burke, president, Flextronics Computing. "We are pleased to announce this expansion and believe that Wuzhong is an excellent location based on its world-class infrastructure, supply chain ecosystem and close proximity to Suzhou's Higher Education Center, which has a reputation for excellent education programs and highly-skilled talent."
President Dmitry Medvedev says Russia is thinking big when it comes to nanotechnology.
Medvedev told an international nanotechnology forum that Russia aims to be a world leader in an industry he said has vast potential. He said that the energy-rich nation needs to stop coasting on its income from oil and gas exports and diversify its economy.
Nanotechnology allows scientists to manipulate materials at the molecular level, and nanomaterials have come increasingly into use.
Medvedev cited estimates that nanotechnology could be a $2 trillion (euro1.37 trillion) to $3 trillion industry by 2015, and said Russia does not want to be left behind. He stressed that will require changes in Russia's economy, which enjoyed almost a decade of oil-fueled growth before the global meltdown prompted a recession.
As the effects of the global financial crisis recede, Medvedev said, Russia's economy "should be based on knowledge and innovation technologies, not on Russia's resource potential, however limitless that may be."
The Kremlin has set up a state corporation to oversee nanotechnology.
Medvedev said the private sector should be more savvy about pursuing nanotechnology.
The US Government and the European Union have announced separate plans to launch studies into the possible health effects and business implications for nanotechnology.
The statements came as a new survey of US consumers found that 90 per cent of respondents said they urgently wanted more information on nanoscience and how it is to be employed.
Nanotechnology, which harnesses the use of particles between one and 100 nanometers in length, is believed to have huge potential in food processing and packaging. Applications include its use in providing anti-microbial coatings for food contact surfaces or packaging as well as using the technology to engineer sensors to detect pathogens and toxins in food or to register environmental changes.
Nano’s health implications
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) outlined its new research strategy to better understand how manufactured nanomaterials could harm human health and the environment.
The project outlines what studies the body will support in the next several years to find out about the safe use of nanotechnology and products – including food packaging and cosmetics – that contain nano-scale materials. The research will be carried out both by the EPA and external groups who will receive grant funding from the body.
“EPA’s role among federal agencies is to determine the potential hazards of nanotechnology and develop approaches to reduce or minimize any risks identified,” said an EPA statement.
The research will look at the complete life-cycle of nanomaterials – from their manufacture and use to the way they are disposed.
European Union strategy
At the same time the European Union said it would develop a strategy on how best to reap the economic benefits from nanotechnology – declaring the field to be “of exceptional importance for being at the forefront of managing the shift to a low carbon, knowledge-based economy”.
An EC statement added: “Mastering such technologies lays stable foundation for well paid jobs in the EU and allows for sustainable, broadly shared growth.”
The EU said it continued to face “significant obstacles” in delivering “wide and timely deployment” of nanotechnology and admitted that in the past the economic bloc had “not effectively capitalized on its own R&D results”. Expert panels were being put together to map out both short and long-tern strategies, it said.
US survey
As the two announcements were made, a survey found 90 per cent of Americans believe they should be better informed about cutting edge technology such as nanoscience.
The poll of 1001 consumers by Peter D. Hart Research Associates and the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) showed than public awareness of nanotech had stagnated since 2005.
“Historically, government and industry have done a poor job of informing and engaging the public about scientific developments which could have transformative impacts on society,” said David Rejeski, director of PEN. “The poll showed that better communication is needed and could be beneficial in securing the promise of our investments in science.”
General Motors Co. (GM) has opened a China Science Lab in Shanghai, which will carry out important research projects in a number of automotive-related fields for the company. As the first major science lab established by a global automaker in China, it will contribute to technological innovation, both domestically and on a worldwide basis.
"Our vision for the China Science Lab is to be recognized as a world-class R&D organization that will help drive GM's automotive business into the future," said Alan Taub, GM's new VP of global research and development. "Our aim is to develop breakthrough technologies that will differentiate GM vehicles in the marketplace and build on GM's long history of industry firsts. The China Science Lab's opening demonstrates that GM is moving aggressively to maintain leadership in breakthrough technological research globally."
"GM has long been an active supporter of all aspects of China's automotive industry. according to Kevin Wale, president and managing director of the GM China Group. "Through the China Science Lab, we will leverage the country's outstanding research talent together with GM's extensive resources to come up with new innovations for the benefit of vehicle users around the globe."
The China Science Lab's initial focus will be on research related to advanced propulsion technology and joining technology. The China Science Lab will also focus on battery cells, megacity safety research, advanced vehicle development, and light materials. It will engage in additional activities in accordance with market conditions and its own research capability as it ramps up. The China Science Lab will carry out collaborative work with universities and government-run scientific institutions across China. It is expected to employ up to 100 staff during its early stage of operation.
John Du, who has 20 years of professional experience in technology research management, will lead the China Science Lab. He will oversee research and technology development.
"I am very excited to be able to leverage my many years of experience conducting research in China at General Motors," said Du. "The China Science Lab's launch will contribute to technological innovation, collaboration and management at GM, while helping GM maintain its technology leadership position."
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