National Institute for Nanotechnology

National Institute for Nanotechnology - University of Alberta

3098 Views · August 21 · Filed under dentistry, technology bytes

National nanotech research centre has officially opened on June 22, 2006. This state of art facility is built on the campus of University of Alberta in Edmonton and will be the foundation for the revolutionary work being done at the nano-scale, the world of individual atoms or molecules. NINT’s 15,000 square-metre building will be one of the world’s most technologically advanced research facilities and will house laboratory space that will be the quietest in Canada. NIN has attracted many young researchers from UAlberta, Canada, and around the world.

Here are the photos of this new facility.

The sign at the front entrance to National Institute for Nanotechnology (NIN) and National Research Council Canada (NRC-CNRC) on the campus of University of Alberta.

National Institute for Nanotechnology - NINT (click here for large image)

Another view of NIN at University of Alberta (click here for large picture)

The front door to NIN on UofA campus (click here for large pix)

Entire premise of NIN on UAlberta campus (click here for large picture)

A bulletin board, announcing the construction of NIN at U of A.

Panoramic view of NIN, by Kodak V610 Digital Camera Panoramic Technology.
Click here for larger panoramic view of NIN.

NINT web address: http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/nint/english.cfm

An advanced research facility dedicated to the research and development of new materials on a minute scale has officially opened in Edmonton.

About 180 researchers are already setting up in the $52.2-million National Institute for Nanotechnology, which officially opened on Thursday.

Nanotechnology combines biology, physics and engineering to manipulate atoms and molecules on a microscopic scale.

Engineers work in the scale of a nanometre — one billionth of a metre, or 100,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair.

Nanotechnology is already used to put thin metallic film on the inside of bags to preserve potato chips, and to develop better sunscreens.

Second-to-none facilities

The research resources at the new institute are second-to-none, said Bob Wolkow, a University of Alberta physics professor who helped to create a nanoscale transistor that could lead to faster electronic devices.

In the field of biology, Shannon Lubitz, the institute’s technical officer, is working towarding changing the DNA in E.coli bacteria. Lubitz aims to reprogram the microbe’s ability to swim toward sugar and digest it to break up life-threatening blood clots, for example.

The first floor includes a suite of labs in “Canada’s quietest space,” designed that way because the finely calibrated equipment used in nano-scale research needs to free of noise, vibrations and interference from electro-magnetic fields.

The 20,000-square-metre building is also shared by the University of Alberta.

Of the national institute’s preliminary budget of $120 million for the first five years, half comes from federal government, and half from the Alberta government and University of Alberta.

Source: cbc.ca