NY NanoCenter Awarded $4M

A state grant of $4 million to the Marcy NanoCenter will initiate engineering work on infrastructure improvements at the Rome, N.Y., site of its new facility.

The announcement coincided with Semicon West, being held this week in San Francisco. Mohawk Valley Edge, the site developer and regional economic development agency marketing the Rome site for development to the nanoelectronics industry, is exhibiting there as part of the "NY Loves Nanotech" team.

The Marcy NanoCenter, currently located at the campus of the State University of New York Institute of Technology, had been the second choice by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) for a new computer microchip manufacturing plant (AMD is instead now considering the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Saratoga; see also: AMD May Seek Fab Partner). The R&D and manufacturing cluster includes AMD, ASML, Applied Materials, IBM, NXP Semiconductor and Tokyo Electron. THe new location is in proximity to suppliers and nanoelectronics industry R&D at Albany NanoTech and Sematech North.

Steven J. DiMeo, president of Mohawk Valley Edge, said in a statement, “Marcy NanoCenter is ready for development as a result of the significant investment by New York State. Instead of completing off-site improvements simultaneous to site development, our strategy is to conclude this work as soon as possible, thereby speeding up the development timeline.”

NY Loves Nanotech (Booths 5587 and 5787) is sponsored by Center for Economic Growth (CEG) consortium, which promotes nanotechnology research and production in New York. The group is highlighting AMD's decision to build manufacturing facilities in NY and Sematech's move from Texas to Albany. (See also: Sens. OK NY Nano Funding). Participants include the Rochester Institute of Technology, the Empire State Development Corp., Precision Flow Technologies, National Grid, First Nano and CVD Equipment Corp., NYSTAR (New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation), Airgas East and the University at Albany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering.

Phase II funding of $14.5 million for road and other infrastructure improvements at the Marcy NanoCenter has been proposed.

For more information, visit: www.marcynanocenter.com