Nanofab Reflection name of new building
Site expected to have 50,000 square feet of clean room space
Albany Nanotech’s newest building will be called Nanofab Reflection, to complement the school’s largest building, Nanofab Xtension.
Back in January, Albany Nanotech officials revealed plans for the new building, citing increased demand for research and development space at the state-owned facility, which provides research labs and manufacturing clean room space for tenants such as IBM, Applied Materials and Tokyo Electron. SUNY Polytechnic Institute is also a tenant.
On Monday, Albany Nanotech, which is run by a quasigovernmental nonprofit called NY CREATES, issued a request for proposals, or RFP, for the design and construction of the new building, which will have 50,000 square feet of clean room space.
Nanofab Xtension, also known as Nanofab X or NFX, was built nearly a decade ago for $365 million and has 50,000 square feet of clean room space.
NY CREATES officials did not reveal how much Nanofab Reflection will cost. But it will be built right next to Nanofab X in an area between Nanofab X, the ZEN building and the rest of the campus that is currently made up of parking.
The new project will also include a 400-vehicle parking garage and pedestrian walkways that would connect the new building to the others on campus.
State officials have been looking to expand the campus as it seeks to be designated as a federal computer chip manufacturing lab known as the National Semiconductor Technology Center, or NSTC, that would be funded through a $52 billion bill being debated in Congress.
“Our existing clean rooms are fully occupied and we have several partners looking to increase their footprint in New York,” David Anderson, president of NY CREATES, said. “With major federal investments in the semiconductor industry likely on the way, now is the time to build Nanofab Reflection and other infrastructure in order to meet the future need for more capacity.”
In an interview at Albany Nanotech on Tuesday, Anderson said that if Albany Nanotech is chosen to host the NSTC then the state would likely be also looking to build another large building at its campus, in an area that is now also a parking lot.
Anderson said there are already existing and “new” tenants that are interested in taking space in Nanofab Reflection, although he declined to mention any names.
It’s possible that Nanofab Reflection could house work being done in a new research partnership between IBM and Intel, the world’s largest computer chip manufacturer.
Anderson said NY CREATES is still working on how it will finance the new building. In the past, Albany Nanotech has relied on a combination of state and private funding, along with bank financing and raising money through investment bonds.
The computer chip industry is poised to grow as demand for chips has soared, with chips powering everything from cars and appliances to phones and military weapons.
And with the federal government looking to provide manufacturers with billions of dollars in incentives to build U.S. factories to increase the domestic supply to keep up with China, nearly every chipmaker is looking to expand. That includes Globalfoundries, which is headquartered about half an hour north of Albany in the town of Malta. Globalfoundries is in the process of getting ready to build its second factory in Malta, known as Fab 8.2.
“As the industry is poised to grow, we’re growing with it,” Anderson said.
“As the industry is poised to grow, we’re growing with it.” — David Anderson, president of NY CREATES