"Science of the Small" Spurs $1 Billion in Capital Investment for New North American Nano Labs

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Nanotechnology--the science of the small--is the source of some very big capital investment in North America, primarily on college campuses. Funding for these projects, while still difficult to obtain in this economic climate, is somewhat easier to come by because of the interdisciplinary nature of nanotechnology. The field draws interest and research from a multitude of disciplines, including but not limited to bioscience, engineering, and medical devices. A recent survey drawn from Industrial Info's Pharmaceutical Tracker has uncovered 16 active capital projects in the nanotechnology sector with a total investment value (TIV) of more than $1 billion.

Click on image at right for a regional breakdown of North American nanotechnology-based construction projects.

The practical uses and potential of nanotechnology or nanoscience is not to be underestimated. The word itself is a combination of "nano," from the Greek nanos (or Latin nanus), meaning "dwarf," and the word "science." Simplified, a nano is one-billionth of a meter, or a nanometer, which is on the scale of atomic diameters. For comparison, a human hair is about 100,000 times thicker than a nanometer. Practical applications and current fields of study include instruments that are able to "see" and "touch" at this scale, as well as nanoparticles, which consist of a variety of compounds including alumina, zinc oxide, magnesium and titanium dioxide. Nanopowders are used for everything from sunscreen that scatters ultraviolet rays to fabrics that resist stains and destroy bacteria.

A look at the 16 current projects reveals a TIV range of $3 million all the way up to $160 million, with an impressive per-project average of $62.5 million. The academic world, long a fan of nanotech, has been joined by local and state agencies in regarding nanotechnology as a vehicle of economic growth for a region. As discoveries make their way through the development process in the laboratory, the next step is taking these same products to the marketplace. With its interdisciplinary nature, the field has the potential to reach a wide range of start-up companies attracted to the intellectual capital, as well as state-of-the-art research centers. Many of the new facilities being planned will help foster these startups through a variety of methods, including incubator space and incentives.

Currently, the largest nano project being tracked on Industrial Info's Pharmaceutical Tracker is the University of Waterloo's (Waterloo, Ontario) Lazardidis Quantum Nanotech Research Center. Now under construction in Canada, the $160 million project was first reported in 2005. Construction began in 2008 and is expected to be complete in late 2010. Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects (Toronto, Ontario) served as the lead designer of the five-story, low-vibration, 285,000-square-foot building. Toronto's Aecon Group is the construction manager for the project, which will include a 10,000-square-foot cleanroom (Class 100 & 1000). The quantum component of the center will deal with atomic and subatomic levels of research, where traditional laws of physics do not apply, as subatomic particles have demonstrated the property of existing in two places at the same time.

At the other end of the spending spectrum is the $3 million expansion in preliminary planning for Rushford Hypersonic LLC (Rushford, Minnesota). The company is considering building an addition or renovating its existing facility to expand production of nanotechnology-based coatings.

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