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Wednesday, September 16, 2009
UMass Lowell targeted to receive $4M towards nanomanufacturing R&D
By Mass High Tech staff
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The U.S. Senate defense appropriations committee has approved $4 million to develop the University of Massachusetts Lowell’s nanomanufacturing research project. The project, backed by Sen. John Kerry, has $2 million earmarked from the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year.
UMass Lowell’s nanomanufacturing research includes a structural damage detector for weapons, vehicles and body armor and a sensor to detect biological and chemical agents. The school is studying manufacturing solutions to mass produce the technology for the military. The technological developments are expected to lead to commercial applications as well, according to a press release from UMass Lowell.
The laboratory will be part of the Emerging Technology and Innovation Center, expected to begin construction next spring. Construction of the $70 million center was put on hold in March when Chancellor Marty Meehan said it would not be able to secure $35 million in bond financing at the terms it had anticipated. However, with 300 new jobs anticipated in the next five years, the ETIC is getting funding under the Massachusetts Economic Investment Act of 2006 and the 2007 appropriation act.
Last December, the school had told Mass High Tech it was moving ahead with plans to build the 97,000-square-foot facility, which would have focused on nano- and biomanufacturing research.
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