Jan. 4, 2006 — New York Governor George Pataki announced on Tuesday additional details about the new Institute for Nanoelectronics Discovery and Exploration (INDEX) that will be located at the Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics at the University at Albany.

As part of the effort, a new 250,000 square foot building will be constructed at the Albany Center of Excellence, according to an Albany Nanotech release. It will include a new 100,000 square foot clean-room wing. The center was announced in December by the Semiconductor Industry Association and the Semiconductor Research Corporation, along with a second center, the Western Institute of Nanoelectronics, in California.

The INDEX consortium is led by SUNY University at Albany College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering and includes Georgia Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Purdue University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Yale University.

The institute will focus on nanotech research, including the development of nanomaterials, fabrication technologies, and new chip designs. It will partner with leading researchers from consortium members and with on-site corporate researchers from leading semiconductor companies such as Intel, Micron, AMD, IBM, Texas Instruments, and Freescale Semiconductor.

Total public and private funding for the project will reach $435 million, according to the release, with New York State committing $80 million in matching funds to help INDEX establish the scientific, technical and manufacturing infrastructure, as well as for workforce training. Funding is also to be provided by the federal government, semiconductor equipment manufacturers, and semiconductor material suppliers.

– David Forman