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June 13, 2006 – Construction of a $16 million underground nano research building got underway last week in Eugene, Oregon. University of Oregon scientists say the facility will provide a solid foundation for nanotech research, both literally and figuratively.
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The building is part of a $76 million Integrative Science Complex (ISC) being built on the UO campus.
The ISC is part of Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI), a consortium that includes the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Portland State University, Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, and regional high tech companies.
At the groundbreaking ceremony, university and political figures joined philanthropist Lorry I. Lokey, who got to drive the earthmoving equipment that would dig the first shovel full of dirt.
Construction begins with removal of about 2,700 tons of soil and bedrock from the site, but professors Jim Hutchison and Dave Johnson are already looking forward to the benefits they expect from the new lab.
Hutchison is making a name for himself as the developer of the concept of ‘green nano,’ which includes paying close attention to waste, toxicity and other environmental hazards.
“I can think of high performance measurements we’ve struggled with that we can do now. We’ll anchor our building directly in the bedrock,” Hutchison said.
Instruments used for nanoscience research can do a better job in that bedrock setting, because the vibration level is two to three times lower than the “gold standard” set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, said one of ONAMI’s co-founders, UO chemistry professor David Johnson.
Called the Eugene formation, it is a kind of underground hard rock mountain that providentially rises up to about 15 feet below the surface of the UO campus, he said.
It was discovered by accident. Another building on campus went down to this rock, but its stability was unknown until a researcher who was making a measurement there thought his instrument was broken, Johnson said.
“To get advantages for funding and get papers published, if you can see things nobody else can see, you’re one step ahead of everyone,” Johnson said.
His own research will certainly benefit from the improved setup. “We have figured out a way to deposit nano layers of elements. By controlling the initial assemblage, we can make new materials that are uniquely structured and this new facility will help us determine the structure and characterize the properties of these materials.”
Hutchison mentioned working with other researchers from academia and industry as a benefit the building will offer, since the building design includes a designated collaboration space at the end of a central corridor along which sensitive instruments are to be located.
“Many experiments are time consuming,” he said, so researchers in forensic art history, condensed matter physics and zebrafish biology, for example, might all end up killing time at the same time and place.
“That’s the kind of interdisciplinary interaction we’re trying to capture in this space. The theme is an intellectual mixing pot. We want to bring people together there to work together.”
They also look forward to working with industry researchers from Hewlett-Packard’s Corvallis campus, FEI Co. of Hillsboro, Ore., and Portland-based ESI, Electro-Scientific Industries.
Lokey founded Business Wire in 1961 and sold it to Berkshire Hathaway in January this year.
Since then, he has given $32 million dollars to the university for projects in education, journalism and science, including $10 million toward the ISC.
Total cost for the research center alone, which will be named the Lorry I. Lokey Laboratories, is about $16 million.
Funding includes $9.5 million in bonds and lottery funds approved by the Oregon Legislature, with the balance to be raised from private gifts and industry partners. From Lokey’s gift, $3 million will go toward the Lokey Laboratories center and the balance toward the Phase 2 building.
In addition to semiconductor, photolithography, nanofabrication and bio-optics labs, the center will house more than 20 high-technology instruments operated by the university’s Center for Advanced Materials Characterization in Oregon (CAMCOR).
CAMCOR has a microanalytical facility, the university electron microscopy facility, materials characterization laboratory and a surface analytical laboratory.
Other ONAMI officials at the ceremony were David Chen, chairman, and Skip Rung, director. UO officials Rich Linton, vice president of research, and president Dave Frohnmayer, and Gov. Ted Kulongoski were also present.
Frohnmayer praised UO science faculty, saying it “includes many of the world’s best in green nanoscience, cognitive neuroscience, and zebrafish research.”