Centre for commercializing nanotechnology gets $3.8M funding

Edmonton, AB – The federal government says it is committing $3.8 million to the University of Alberta for the National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT)’s Innovation Centre. The centre will be located on the fourth floor of the National Research Council (NRC) National Institute for Nanotechnology. Its total cost is $5.6 million, and Alberta has already committed $1.8 million toward construction costs.

The centre is intended to attract and facilitate commercialization of nanotechnology and other technologies that benefit from being in proximity to NRC and the University of Alberta nano-scale facilities.

The National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) is a partnership initiative between the National Research Council, the University of Alberta, the Government of Canada and the Government of Alberta. This partnership was created to bring together the discovery-based research from the University of Alberta with the managed innovation and commercialization approach of the National Research Council.

The $3.8 million will go toward finishing construction and designing of the fourth floor of the NINT Building, as well as outfitting and furnishing for-lease offices and labs. When it is finished, the NINT building will be one of the world’s most technologically advanced research facilities and will house laboratory space that will provide optimal conditions for nano-scale research, including “quiet” lab space, lab space with ultra-low vibration and minimal acoustical noise or electro-magnetic interference.

NINT occupies 15,000 sq m of the six-story building. The institute will include specialized spaces for laboratories in chemical and biochemical synthesis and analysis of the material structure at the atomic scale, as well as a Class 1000 clean room for the production of nanostructured systems. NINT is purchasing the latest generation of scientific equipment including electron and scanning probe microscopes, and chemical and material analysis instruments .