OTHER ELECTRONICS & NANOTECHNOLOGY
INDUSTRY UPDATE
March 2019
McIlvaine Company
Fitts Woolard Hall, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
NTPT Opens Cleanroom
Production Facility
Micron Announces Investment in U.S. For
DRAM And NAND
Chapman University Opens New Science and
Engineering Center
MIT.nano building, the largest of its kind, will usher in a new age of nanoscale
advancements.
Nanotechnology, the cutting-edge research field that explores ultrasmall
materials, organisms, and devices, has now been graced with the largest, most
sophisticated, and most accessible university research facility of its kind in
the U.S.: It is the new $400 million MIT.nano building.
The state-of-the-art facility includes two large floors of connected cleanroom
spaces that are open to view from the outside and available for use by an
extraordinary number and variety of researchers across the Institute. It also
features a whole floor of undergraduate chemistry teaching labs, and an
ultrastable basement level dedicated to electron microscopes and other
exquisitely sensitive imaging and measurement tools.
“In recent decades, we have gained the ability to see into the nanoscale with
breathtaking precision. This insight has led to the development of tools and
instruments that allow us to design and manipulate matter like nature does, atom
by atom and molecule by molecule,” says Vladimir Bulović, the Fariborz Maseeh
Professor in Emerging Technology and founding director of MIT.nano. “MIT.nano
has arrived on campus at the dawn of the Nano Age. In the decades ahead, its
open-access facilities for nanoscience and nanoengineering will equip our
community with instruments and processes that can further harness the power of
nanotechnology in service to humanity’s greatest challenges.”
“In terms of vibrations and electromagnetic noise, MIT.nano may be the quietest
space on campus. But in a community where more than half of recently tenured
faculty do work at the nanoscale, MIT.nano’s superb shared facilities guarantee
that it will become a lively center of community and collaboration, says MIT
President L. Rafael Reif. "I am grateful to the exceptional team — including
Provost Martin Schmidt, Founding Director Vladimir Bulovic, and many others —
that delivered this extraordinarily sophisticated building on an extraordinarily
inaccessible construction site, making a better MIT so we can help to make a
better world.”
The 214,000 sq. ft. building, with its soaring glass facades, sophisticated
design and instrumentation, and powerful air-exchange systems, lies at the heart
of campus and just off the Infinite Corridor. It took shape during six years of
design and construction, and was delivered exactly on schedule and on budget, a
rare achievement for such a massive and technologically complex construction
project.
“MIT.nano is a game-changer for the MIT research enterprise,” says Vice
President for Research Maria Zuber.
“It will provide measurement, imaging, and fabrication capabilities that will
dramatically advance science and technology in disciplines across the
Institute,” adds Provost Martin Schmidt.
At the heart of the building are two levels of cleanrooms — research
environments in which the air is continuously scrubbed and replaced to maintain
a standard that allows no more than 100 particles of
0.5 microns or larger within a cubic foot of air. To achieve such
cleanliness, work on the building has included strict filtration measures and
access restrictions for more than a year, and at the moment, with the spaces not
yet in full use, they far exceed that standard.
All of the lab and instrumentation spaces in the building will be used as shared
facilities, accessible to any MIT researcher who needs the specialized tools
that will be installed there over the coming months and years. The tools will be
continually upgraded, as the building is designed to be flexible and ready for
the latest advances in equipment for making, studying, measuring, and
manipulating nanoscale objects — things measured in billionths of a meter,
whether they be technological, biological, or chemical.
Many of the tools and instruments to be installed in MIT.nano are so costly and
require so much support in services and operations that they would likely be out
of reach for a single researcher or team. One of the instruments now installed
and being calibrated in the basement imaging and metrology suites — sitting atop
a 5-million-pound slab of concrete to provide the steadiest base possible — is a
cryogenic transmission electron microscope. This multimillion dollar instrument
is hosted in an equally costly room with fine-tuned control of temperature and
humidity, specialized features to minimize the mechanical and electromagnetic
interference, and a technical support team. The device, one of two currently
being installed in MIT.nano, will enable detailed 3-D observations of cells or
materials held at very low liquid-nitrogen temperatures, giving a glimpse into
the exquisite nanoscale features of the soft-matter world.
Almost half of the MIT.nano’s footage is devoted to lab space — 100,000 square
feet of it — which is about 100 times larger in size than the typical private
lab space of a young experimental research group at MIT, Bulović says. Private
labs typically take a few years to build out, and once in place often house
valuable equipment that is idle for at least part of the time. It will similarly
take a few years to fully build out MIT.nano’s shared labs, but Bulović expects
that the growing collection of advanced instruments will rarely be idle. The
instrument sets will be selected and designed to drastically improve a
researcher’s ability to hit the ground running with access to the best tools
from the start, he says.
Principal investigators often “find there’s a benefit to contributing tools to
the community so they can be shared and perfected through their use,” Bulović
says. “They recognize that as these tools are not needed for their own work
24/7, attracting additional instrument users can generate a revenue stream for
the tool, which supports maintenance and future upgrades while also enhancing
the research output of labs that would not have access to those tools
otherwise.”
Once MIT.nano is fully outfitted, over 2,000 MIT faculty and researchers are
expected to use the new facilities every year, according to Bulović. Besides its
clean-room floors, instrumentation floor, chemistry labs, and the top-floor
prototyping labs, the new building also houses a unique facility at MIT: a
two-story virtual-reality and visualization space called the Immersion Lab. It
could be used by researchers studying subcellular-resolution images of
biological tissues or complex computer simulations, or planetary scientists
walking through a reproduced Martian surface looking for geologically
interesting sites; it may even lend itself to artistic creations or
performances, he says. “It’s a unique space. The beauty of it is it will connect
to the huge datasets” coming from instruments such as the cryoelectron
microscopes, or from simulations generated by artificial intelligence labs, or
from other external datasets.
The chemistry labs on the building’s fifth floor, which can accommodate a dozen
classes of a dozen students each, are already fully outfitted and in full use
for this fall. The labs allow undergraduate chemistry students an exceptionally
full and up-to-date experience of lab processes and tools.
“The Department of Chemistry is delighted to move into our new state-of-the-art
Undergraduate Teaching Laboratories (UGTL) in MIT.nano,” says department head
Timothy Jamison. “The synergy between our URIECA curriculum and this new space
enables us to provide an even stronger educational foundation in experimental
chemistry to our students. Vladimir Bulović and the MIT.nano team have been
wonderful partners at all stages — throughout the design, construction, and move
— and we look forward to other opportunities resulting from this collaboration
and the presence of our UGTL in MIT.nano.”
The building itself was designed to be far more open and accessible than any
comparable clean-room facility in the world. Those outside the labs can watch
through MIT.nano’s many windows and see the use of these specialized devices and
how such labs work. Meanwhile, researchers themselves can more easily interact
with each other and see the sunshine and the gently waving bamboo plants
outdoors as a reminder of the outside world that they are working to benefit.
A courtyard path on the south side of the building is named the Improbability
Walk, in honor of the late MIT Institute Professor Emerita Mildred “Millie”
Dresselhaus. The name is a nod to a statement by the beloved mentor,
collaborator, teacher, and world-renowned pioneer in solid-state physics and
nanoscale engineering, who once said, “My background is so improbable — that I’d
be here from where I started.”
Those who walk through the building’s sunlight-soaked corridors and galleries
will notice walls surfaced with panels of limestone from the Yangtze Platform of
southwestern China. The limestone’s delicate patterns of fine horizontal lines
are made up of tiny microparticles, such as bits of ancient microorganisms, laid
down at the bottom of primeval waters before dinosaurs roamed the Earth. The
very newest marvels to emerge in nanotechnology will thus be coming into
existence right within view of some of their most ancient minuscule precursors.
Fitts Woolard Hall, North Carolina State
University, Raleigh, N.C.
Cost: $150 million
Size: 224,000 sq. ft.
Project team: Clark Nexsen (architect, interior design, MEP, structural, fire
protection, civil, lighting); Skanska USA (general contractor); Surface 678
(landscape architect)
Construction has begun on Fitts‐Woolard Hall, a new engineering building on
Centennial Campus at NC State University. The project will provide an innovative
facility to help accommodate that growth and further position the University as
an international leader in engineering education.
The design is driven by a commitment to “engineering on display.” The four‐story
building is designed with two entrance lobbies. These are connected by a wide
corridor with views into the engineering labs and open stairs. These views will
encourage campus pedestrians to pass through the building and allow the school
to showcase its ongoing work.
The main entry will be flanked by a structural testing lab, senior student
project space, and large‐scale driving simulator, all which will be visible on
the exterior and interior of the building.
Throughout the four‐story facility, collaboration and interaction will be
supported through high degrees of transparency. Stairs at each end of the
building will act as connecting threads between floors and reveal the building’s
structural and mechanical systems as an additional instructional tool.
The building will comprise heavy and light labs for research and teaching,
classrooms, grad spaces and administration offices.
With more than 100 classrooms and laboratories, Fitts‐Woolard Hall will house
the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering and the
Fitts Department of Industrial and System Engineering.
The building will support broad initiatives in areas such as advanced materials
and manufacturing, robotics and sensor technology, service sector engineering,
critical infrastructure and security, transportation and logistics, and energy
and environmental systems.
The project is anticipating LEED Silver certification.
Completion date: June 2020
NTPT Opens Cleanroom
Production Facility
North Thin Ply Technology (NTPT), the Swiss laminate composite specialist, has
announced the opening of new laboratory facilities and a 3,228 sq. ft. (300 sq.
m.) cleanroom production area at its headquarters in Renens. The production
facility is a state-of-the-art cleanroom dedicated to the manufacture of Quartz
and other non-carbon fiber materials.
The production facility is a state-of-the-art cleanroom dedicated to the
manufacture of Quartz and other non-carbon fiber materials
This new development is a step forward in the long-term collaboration with
watchmaker GMV-Richard Mille, which includes the exclusive supply of lightweight
Thin Ply materials and solutions to Richard Mille horology, jewelry and writing
instrument designs, as announced in February this year. The two companies have
worked together since 2013.
Amongst other things, the new NTPT-designed prepreg line features antistatic
bars, a suction unit and a new creel system, to prevent contamination and to
ensure optimum quality output. The new one cubic meter autoclave has a maximum
pressure of 10 bars and maximum temperature of 260˚C.
"With the capacity to produce 7500km of fiber and more than 7-tonnes of Thin Ply
composites annually, this new line is a significant development and investment
for the company," NTPT said in a statement.
The R&D equipment has been upgraded to increase development capacity and to
facilitate improved time to market for new GMV-Richard Mille designs, and
includes differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical thermal
analysis (DMTA), viscometer, microscopes, and an Instron mechanical bench test.
While exclusive to GMV-RM for horology, jewelry and writing instrument
applications, NTPT welcomes enquiries from companies with other applications
that also require a high level of contamination-free composite material.
NTPT also said that GMV-RM will establish an onsite showroom of its products,
where clients and other visitors can see how these high-quality, specialized
composites are developed and produced.
Commenting on the announcement, NTPT CEO, Ludovic Chichignoud, said: “We were
pleased to celebrate the opening of the new facilities with the team at GMV-RM.
This is an exciting step for NTPT and GMV-Richard Mille, and for our
collaboration, and one which now enables us to develop advanced and highly
complex composite solutions more quickly for the unique Richard
Micron Announces Investment in U.S.
For DRAM And NAND
Micron Technology, Inc. plans to invest $3 billion by 2030 to increase memory
production at its plant in Manassas, Virginia, creating 1,100 new jobs roughly
over the next decade. These investments are contemplated in Micron’s long-term
model to invest capital expenditure in the low thirties as a percent of revenue.
The expansion will position the Manassas site — located about 40 miles west of
Washington, D.C. — to support Micron’s leadership in the rapidly growing market
for high quality, high reliability memory products.
“Micron’s Manassas site manufactures our
long-lifecycle products that are built using our mature process technologies,
and primarily sold into the automotive, networking and industrial markets,” said
Micron President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra. “These products support a diverse set
of applications such as industrial automation, drones, the IoT (Internet of
Things) and in-vehicle experience applications for automotive. This business
delivers strong profitability and stable, growing free cash flow. Micron is
grateful for the extensive engagement of state and local officials since early
this year to help bring our Manassas expansion to fruition. We are excited to
increase our commitment to the community through the creation of new highly
skilled jobs, expanded facilities and education initiatives.”
“Micron’s expansion in the City of Manassas represents one of the largest
manufacturing investments in the history of Virginia and will position the
Commonwealth as a leader in unmanned systems and Internet of Things,” said
Governor Northam. “This $3 billion investment will have a tremendous impact on
our economy by creating 1,100 high-demand jobs, and solidifies Micron as one of
the Commonwealth’s largest exporters. We thank Micron for choosing to deepen
their roots in Virginia and look forward to partnering in their next chapter of
major growth.”
The initial cleanroom expansion is expected to be completed in the fall of 2019
with production ramp in the first half of 2020. This expansion will add less
than 5% to Micron’s global clean room space footprint and will primarily support
enablement of DRAM and NAND technology transitions as well as modest capacity
increase at the site, in-line with growing customer demand for Micron’s
long-lifecycle products.
“As a leading global supplier of automotive electronics systems and components,
ZF appreciates the long-standing support of Micron to our business,” said
Karsten Mueller, vice president, Corporate Materials Management, Global
Commodity Electronics at ZF Friedrichshafen AG. “Meeting the ever-increasing
demands for automotive applications will require significantly greater memory as
the dual trends of advanced safety and autonomy drive the industry forward.
Micron’s decision to expand the manufacturing and R&D capabilities at this
IATF-certified facility is another indication that this growth should only
accelerate in the future.”
As part of this expansion, Micron will also establish a global research
development center in Manassas for the development of memory and storage
solutions focused mainly on the automotive, industrial and networking markets.
The research and development center will include laboratories, test equipment
and a staff of approximately 100 engineers.
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) worked with the City of
Manassas and the General Assembly’s Major Employment and Investment (MEI)
Project Approval Commission to secure the project for Virginia. Micron will be
eligible to receive an MEI custom performance grant of $70 million for site
preparation and facility costs, subject to approval by the Virginia General
Assembly. Additionally, the City of Manassas and utility partners are providing
a broader, comprehensive support package to enable the expansion, including
substantial infrastructure upgrades and additional incentives.
Chapman University Opens New Science and
Engineering Center
Chapman University’s 145,000 sq. ft. Keck Center for Science and Engineering
opened Oct. 11, to help prepare students to meet the needs of the physics,
medical, and engineering industries.
Designed by AC Martin, the facility emphasizes a cross-discipline approach that
includes seven student collaboration areas, 45 research and teaching labs, 50
faculty offices, and an outdoor amphitheater. The design was inspired by Frank
Lloyd Wright’s Prairie School architectural style and features transparent walls
to provide insight into the work being done within the labs.
Among the Keck Center’s sustainability features are an innovative cooling system
to decrease energy use, windows that electronically change tint to control heat
and light, and a green roof that recycles 100% of storm water runoff.
McIlvaine Company
Northfield, IL 60093-2743
Tel: 847-784-0012; Fax:
847-784-0061
E-mail:
editor@mcilvainecompany.com
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www.mcilvainecompany.com