National Labs Get Grants To Further Nanotechnology Research

Compiled ByJill Jusko The U.S. government is doing its part to further research into nanotechnology with the recent award of $75.8 million to two national laboratories to house the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT). Nanotechnology builds materials up from atoms and molecules and has the potential to provide more precise functionality, lower energy requirements and reduced waste than other technologies. The Office of Science at the U.S. Department of Energy approved funding for a joint core facility at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque and a smaller gateway building at Los Alamos (N.M.) National Laboratory. CINT is one of five new nanoscale science research centers being created by the Office of Science. "It is natural for Los Alamos and Sandia to pursue this new field because of the labs' long tradition of multidisciplinary research," says Los Alamos Director John Browne. "In the short term, the new facility should offer new ways to develop sensors, satellites and security measures to support our nuclear deterrent. In the long term, it could change our lives in ways people can't even begin to imagine." The target date for breaking ground in Los Alamos is April 2004, followed by the core facility in Albuquerque in June 2004.