The air has to be filtered so that there are very few particulates. It's much more clean than a surgery room in a hospital. At the same time, nanotech laboratories must be precisely controlled for temperature and humidity, he says. Cooper is working with Richard Schwartz, dean of the Schools of Engineering, and other researchers to plan a new building designed specifically for nanotechnology. The idea is to construct a multidisciplinary nanotechnology building with clean-room space.
Plans call for the building to be the largest of any at Big Ten universities.
One of the most impressive features of the building would be the placement of chemical and biological processing labs adjacent to and within facilities typically used to make computer microchips, Cooper says. The nanotechnology building is part of a long-term project to upgrade Purdue engineering facilities. Although its origins can be traced to electronics, nanotechnology now bridges many scientific disciplines. Purdue researchers are pursuing a number of projects to advance nanotechnology. Such sensors could make possible the creation of minuscule refrigeration systems, which might have numerous applications, from high- performance computers to portable storage vessels that preserve biological field samples.