UAlbany, Sematech Partnership Boosts Tech Valley R&D
Published Nov 05, 2008
A partnership between the University at Albany’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering and International Sematech will propel Tech Valley to the forefront of research and development.
Sematech, a research consortium whose members make up half the worldwide computer chip market, is establishing its headquarters at the Albany campus.
Short for semiconductor manufacturing technology, Sematech member companies include IBM Corp., Texas Instruments and Intel Corp.
The move is expected to plow about $600 million into the local economy and create around 450 jobs at CNSE, adding to the 250 already on campus as part of Sematech North, a state-Sematech partnership created in 2003.
The partnership will generate significant economic impact throughout Tech Valley and across the state, says Steve Janack, CNSE vice president for marketing and communications.
“The workforce is already growing through the addition of highly skilled and well-paid scientific, research, engineering and technical jobs – providing exciting new career opportunities for New Yorkers,” he says.
A $150 million, 250,000-square-foot headquarters building on campus is being constructed in a growing physical cluster of nanotech sites.
CNSE’s world-class Albany NanoTech Complex represents more than $4.2 billion in investment and nearly 500,000 square feet of space. More than 2,000 people work on-site for the university and its public and private partners.
In early 2009, with the completion of NanoFab 300 East, the megaplex will expand to 800,000 square feet of cutting-edge facilities, including 80,000 square feet of Class 1-capable, 300mm wafer cleanrooms, that will support up to 2,500 jobs.
IBM in July 2008 announced that an expansion of its operations at the CNSE would be part of a $1.5 billion investment in its Tech Valley nanotechnology research effort, creating up to 1,000 high-paying jobs.
“Emerging industry has a life cycle that moves quickly, so having research here is as critical or even more important as having the commercialized product,” says F. Michael Tucker, president of the Albany-based Center for Economic Growth, an economic and business development organization in Tech Valley.
Janack says the UAlbany-Sematech collaboration will enable game-changing nanoelectronics research, development and commercialization in fields that include health care, energy, environmental technologies, information technology, homeland security and others.
“When you look at the intellectual infrastructure in Tech Valley,” says Tucker, “it’s the driving force at the front end of that life cycle of developing, emerging business.”
Story by Joe Morris
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