For Immediate Release
August 15, 2006

The Next Big Thing: Georgia Breaks Ground for New Nanotechnology Building – and a Stake in a Future Industry

The new Nanotechnology Research Building under construction on the Georgia Tech campus will bring together the physical and biological sciences in a unique fusion of disciplines that state officials believe will win Georgia a place in nanotechnology-based industries of the future.

The new Nanotechnology Research Building will bring together the physical and biological sciences in a unique fusion of disciplines.   Download 300 dpi version

The $80 million center – to be named after philanthropist Bernie Marcus – will be the most advanced nanotechnology facility in the Southeast when it opens in mid-2008. The 160,000 square foot building, for which an official groundbreaking ceremony was held August 7, will feature 30,000 square feet of clean room space dedicated to the study of nanometer-scale science and technology.

“With this new building, we will have 20,000 square feet of clean room space dedicated to nanotechnology focused on the physical sciences and engineering, adjacent to a 10,000 square foot facility dedicated to biological and biomedical nanotechnology research,” said Jim Meindl, director of the new facility. “To the best of my knowledge, this combination does not exist anywhere else in the world.”

Meindl, who built his professional reputation in microelectronics, noted that micron-scale semiconductor chips have fueled the world’s economic growth for the past five decades. Nanotechnology – operating at an even smaller size scale where the laws of physics change how materials behave – will drive growth in the future, he predicted.

The merger of the physical and engineering aspects of nanotechnology with the life sciences will give Georgia an edge over competitors who are working hard to win a stake in the nanotechnology-based industries of the future, said Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough. He noted that Georgia got a late start in the microelectronics industry and had largely missed out on economic growth fueled directly by the microchip.

Officials move ceremonial dirt at the August 7 groundbreaking. Shown (l-r) are James Meindl, director of the new Nanotechnology Research Center; Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough; Philanthropist Bernie Marcus; Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, and University System Chancellor Errol Davis. Georgia Tech Photo: Rob Felt Download 300 dpi version

“We had to work really hard to catch up with the microelectronics revolution,” he said. “We’re not going to miss out on this one.”

Clough said the new Nanotechnology Research Center will allow Georgia Tech to double the size of its nanotechnology research program, which is already among the top 25 in the nation.

But the new facility won’t benefit Georgia Tech alone, noted Governor Sonny Perdue, who said the facility will be used by researchers from other universities in the state – as well as from the private sector. Bringing together public and private sector investment will help fuel economic growth, he said.

“The role of government is to help facilitate a place where good ideas can come together and generate new ideas,” Perdue told attendees at the August 7 ceremony. “This facility promotes innovating for the sake of a better quality of life for our citizens.”

Perdue underscored the state’s commitment to nanotechnology, noting that the state made its commitment to fund the center three years ago in the midst of the one of Georgia’s worst economic downturns.

Marcus, whose generosity has already created the Georgia Aquarium, committed $15 million to fund the building’s construction. A former pharmacist, he told attendees at the groundbreaking ceremony that he was initially attracted to nanotechnology because of its promise in curing disease.

“It is hard for people to understand what can come out of the nanotechnology world, but we do understand the benefits it can produce for medicine,” he said. “The combination of Georgia Tech working with other universities in the state doing nanotechnology research will give us great potential in solving terrible diseases.”

Philanthropist Bernie Marcus (left) talks with Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough (center) and University System of Georgia Chancellor Errol B. Davis, Jr. at the groundbreaking for the new Nanotechnology Research Building. Georgia Tech Photo: Rob Felt Download 300 dpi version

But the co-founder of the Home Depot chain confided that he was won over by how nanotechnology will “create economic value” through improvements in more mundane aspects of commerce – such as the paint and concrete that helped the chain grow.

Thanks to its long-term collaboration with Emory University, Georgia Tech’s nanotechnology program already includes nationally-recognized initiatives that represent the merger of the physical and biological sciences.

In April 2005, the National Institute of Health awarded researchers from Emory and Georgia Tech $11.5 million to establish a new research program focused on creating advanced nanotechnologies to analyze artery-clogging plaque formation at the molecular level and to detect plaque at early stages.

In October 2006, the National Cancer Institute selected the two universities for one of seven National Centers of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence. The $19 million award will create a new center to be known as the Emory-Georgia Tech Nanotechnology Center for Personalized and Predictive Oncology.

Georgia Tech is already among the top 25 U.S. colleges and universities in the amount of funding for nanotechnology research, according to the National Science Foundation.

RESEARCH NEWS & PUBLICATIONS OFFICE
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA

MEDIA RELATIONS CONTACTS: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (jtoon@gatech.edu) or Jane Sanders (404-894-2214); E-mail: (jane.sanders@innovate.gatech.edu).

TECHNICAL CONTACT: Jim Meindl (404-385-7203); E-mail: (james.meindl@mirc.gatech.edu)

WRITER: John Toon