The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering of the University at Albany-SUNY began as a combined vision of government, academia and industry. The common goal was to propel New York State to a leadership position in technology and economic development. Four key drivers comprised the strategy: select an overarching discipline (nanotechnology), invest in state-of-the-art infrastructure, focus on world-class, hands-on education and training incorporating the whole supply chain, and leverage public-private partnerships.
Following are highlights of the growth and development of CNSE:
2001: The School of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at UAlbany is established at the state-of-the-art Albany NanoTech complex.
January 2001: Governor Pataki unveils the Center of Excellence (CoE) program in his 2001 State of the State address, highlighting the nanotechnology CoE in Albany, the bioinformatics CoE in Buffalo and the infotonics CoE in Rochester.
April 2001: Governor Pataki, Speaker Silver, Majority Leader Bruno and IBM launch the Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology (CENN) at UAlbany with $150 million in funding, $100 million from IBM and $50 million from New York State.
July 2002: Governor Pataki, Speaker Silver, Majority Leader Bruno and SEMATECH announce the creation of the $405 million International SEMATECH North Center at the CENN at UAlbany.
November 2002: Governor Pataki, Speaker Silver, Majority Leader Bruno announce the groundbreaking for the $50 million NanoFab 300S (NFN 300S) at the CENN at UAlbany.
November 2002: Governor Pataki, Speaker Silver, Majority Leader Bruno and Tokyo Electron (TEL) announce the $300 million Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL) Technology Center America at the CENN at UAlbany.
April 2003: Groundbreaking takes place for the $175 million NanoFab 300 North (NFN 300N) at the CENN at UAlbany.
January 2004: Governor Pataki announces the creation of UAlbany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) in his 2004 State of the State Address.
Fall 2004: CNSE officially opens its doors, and in December 2004 the College awards the world's first Ph.D. degrees in nanoscience.
January 2005: Governor Pataki announces in his 2005 State of the State address that ASML has located a $400 million R&D center at the CENN at UAlbany to develop nanoscale lithography technologies for future generations of nanochips: the International Multiphase Partnership for Lithography Science and Engineering (IMPLSE).
May 2005: Announcement of $500M Center for Semiconductor Research (CSR).
July 2005: Speaker Silver, Governor Pataki and Senator Bruno announce the creation of the $500+ million International Venture for Nanolithography (INVENT) initiative at the CENN at UAlbany.
September 2005: The Applied Materials (AMAT) $300 million research center is established at the CENN at UAlbany.
January 2006: Governor Pataki, Speaker Silver, Majority Leader Bruno announce the location of the $435 million Institute for Nanoelectronics Discovery and Exploration (INDEX) at the CENN at UAlbany.
January 2006: Announcement of plans for NanoFab 300 East (NFN 300E), a new, $75 million, 250,000 sq. ft. facility at the CENN at UAlbany to be completed in early 2008, and a $45 million expansion to NanoFab 300N to include 15,000 sq. ft. of Class 1 capable, ballroom style, 300mm wafer cleanroom space and 15,000 sq. ft. of clean sub-cleanroom space. Combined, these efforts will bring the CNSE complex to more than 750,000 sq. ft., including 85,000 sq. ft. of Class 1 capable cleanroom space, supporting over 2,500 researchers and scientists by mid-2009.
January 2006: SEMATECH opens a $50 million EUV Resist Test Center at the CENN at UAlbany.
May 2006: CNSE is ranked the nation's number one college for nanotechnology according to the annual University Rankings released by Small Times magazine.
June 2006: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) announces plans to build a $3.2 billion computer chip fabrication plant in Saratoga County using 300mm technology, projected to employ 1,200. It is the largest public-private investment in New York State history and is expected to draw even further investment. CNSE and the CENN at UAlbany is credited by AMD as a critical enabling factor in its decision. AMD also announces that its research activities at CNSE will feed the new plant with technology breakthroughs that will drive its competitive manufacturing protocols.
October 2006: Speaker Silver and Assemblyman Ron Canestrari announce the NYS Assembly will provide $30 million toward the relocation of Vistec Lithography Inc.’s global headquarters, R&D, manufacturing and business operations from Cambridge in the United Kingdom to the Arsenal Campus in Watervliet. Vistec will also establish joint R&D operations at CNSE under a newly created Center for Nanolithography Development.
October 2006: The University at Albany, through CNSE, announces its investment of $500,000 in "NanoHigh," a pilot program in which eligible Albany High School students will receive fellowships to participate in nanotechnology-related science and engineering programs at CNSE.
December 2006: CNSE and Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) sign a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a new set of laboratory courses for students in Hudson Valley's Electrical Technology: Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology program. Also, CNSE and HVCC, together with Einhorn Yaffee Prescott Architecture & Engineering PC, launch the "GetNANO" (Global Education and Training for Nanotechnology) initiative, designed to ensure the development of the highly skilled workforce necessary for the design and efficient operation of state-of-the-art nanoelectronics research, development and manufacturing facilities.
January 2007: KeyBank and the Key Foundation give $250,000 to CNSE to launch NEXSTEP, a collaborative program designed to strengthen the presence of a nanotech-savvy business and support service workforce, network and culture essential to attracting additional high-tech growth to the Capital Region and New York State.
January 2007: CNSE receives a $750,000 award through the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research's (NYSTAR) Technology Transfer Incentive Program for a joint research initiative with Vistec Lithography, Inc. The grant will be used to expand the capabilities of CNSE's CATN2 by supporting the Center for Nanoscale Lithography at CNSE, a collaborative program involving CNSE and Vistec aimed at accelerating development of the company's cutting-edge E-beam lithography technology and building a highly educated and skilled workforce that is critical for future growth.
January 2007: CNSE and Einhorn Yaffee Prescott announce the creation of the National Institute for Sustainable Energy (NISE), a $3.5 million world-class center for zero energy and sustainability to serve as both a catalyst for energy technology innovations and as a magnet for the attraction of clean energy businesses and industries to the Capital Region and New York State. EYP will locate its new business group, EYP/energy, at CNSE's Albany NanoTech complex.
February 2007: Less than six months after taking delivery of the world's first full-field extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography research and development tool from ASML, CNSE announced that it produced the world's first exposed images while using the tool in a development environment. The production of images from the EUV tool supports the R&D programs of the $600M International Venture for Nanolithography (INVENT), a global industry-university consortium for R&D, education and technology deployment for future generations of nanolithography applications.
April 2007: Technologists at SEMATECH's Mask Blank Development Center, one of several major R&D facilities within the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, successfully detected and cleaned 10 nm particles from mask blanks for use in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography - pushing the technology another significant step toward readiness for advanced manufacturing.
May 2007: Dr. Clinton Ray Carpenter became the first UAlbany alumnus to establish an endowment to support CNSE. The Dr. Clinton Ray Carpenter NanoSciences Scholarship Fund will total $300,000 and target community college graduates, with preference in the awarding of scholarships given to students who majored in engineering science and/or physics at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, NY, where Dr. Carpenter taught for more than 20 years.
May 2007: Governor Eliot Spitzer, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno announced that International SEMATECH, the global consortium of leading nanoelectronics manufacturers, agreed to a major expansion of its existing research and development program at the CENN at CNSE. International SEMATECH agreed to locate its headquarters at CNSE, increase its workforce by 450 jobs over three years, and provide $25 million to fund research at colleges and universities at five centers around the state. To facilitate this expansion, legislative leaders agreed to introduce and pass a bill providing $300 million in funding to help SEMATECH purchase advanced semiconductor process equipment. SEMATECH has made a financial commitment of $300 million in cash and in-kind contributions.
May 2007: In its May/June 2007 issue, Small Times magazine, the world's leading publication covering micro- and nanotechnology, ranked CNSE the world's number one college for nanotechnology and microtechnology in its annual University Rankings. This year's survey for the first time included colleges and universities from across the globe, rather than just in the United States. The #1 world ranking comes one year after CNSE was ranked by Small Times as the nation's top college for nanotechnology and microtechnology.
June 2007: U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approves funding to create national research center at CNSE
Senator Charles Schumer, in partnership with Senator Hillary Clinton, secured $1 million in funding in the Senate Appropriations Committee to create the New York Center for National Competitiveness in Nanoscale Characterization (NC3), a new national nanotechnology research center. NC3, a partnership between the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and CNSE, will leverage the intellectual assets and physical resources of CNSE and NIST to act as a "next-generation Bell Labs" model, advancing nanoscale metrology innovations and strengthening the resulting R&D-manufacturing-commercialization ecosystem in the U.S.
August 2007: Congressman McNulty secures funding for nanoscale research effort at CNSE in support of Watervliet Arsenal
Congressman Michael R. McNulty secured $2 million in funding in the U.S. House of Representatives to create the NanoSensor StageGate Accelerator (NSSA), a new nanotechnology-driven research and commercialization program designed to play a critical role in the U.S. Army's transformation into a 21st-century fighting force. NSSA will combine the technological, intellectual and infrastructural assets of CNSE, the Arsenal Business and Technology Partnership and the U.S. Army's Benet Laboratories with leading defense, aerospace and nanoelectronics companies across New York State to accelerate research, development and deployment of nanoscale-enabled products that support the Army's transition to a lighter, more agile and more effective force, as well as applications in the aerospace, energy and transportation sectors.
