The Penn State Board of Trustees approved an expansion of the Materials Research Institute’s (MRI) Nanofabrication Laboratory in the Millennium Science Complex, advancing Penn State’s efforts in next-generation electronics and microsystems integration with a goal of speeding their transition from lab to real-world use.
The updated MRI Nanofabrication Laboratory will offer unique, cutting-edge equipment to develop and integrate advanced microsystem components, materials, heterogeneous devices, and their packaging to collectively enhance Penn State’s strengths in all aspects of microelectronics, semiconductor and related device research. These core facilities will help bridge the gap between “lab to fab” — moving discoveries from the research lab into fabrication — and “fab to lab,” where challenges discovered during manufacturing are brought back to researchers for solutions. This two-way exchange is designed to speed innovation and bring new electronic technologies to market more efficiently.
Investment for the upgrade came from a variety of sources, including Penn State central strategic funds, the College of Engineering, and the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research.