The University of Arkansas at Little Rock dedicated its new nanotechnology center Wednesday as state leaders hailed Arkansas' emergence in the industry.
The $15 million, 50,500-SF UALR Center for Integrative Nanotechnology Sciences (CINS) is five stories, and consists of offices, classrooms, conference rooms, labs, cold rooms and even a greenhouse. Construction began in June of 2010, and the center was financed mostly through bonds.
The CINS will serve as a point of collaboration between the state's research universities, specifically the nanotechnology research being conducted at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and the system's flagship campus in Fayetteville. It will serve a crucial role in the partnership Gov. Mike Beebe made last year with the Food & Drug Administration establishing collaboration between Arkansas' research institutions and FDA's National Center for Toxicological Research at Jefferson.
Already, NCTR is partnering with local private firms that deal with nanotech applications. It is working with Little Rock's Vivione Biosciences (formerly Litmus Rapid-B) to commercialize research involving the detection of E coli and other pathogens.
The goal of the partnership is to advance nanotechnology through research and education, and to commercialize the technologies that come from it.
Beebe, 2nd District Rep. Tim Griffin, U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor and UA System president Donald Bobbitt were among the officials joining UALR chancellor Joel Anderson and center director and chief scientist Alex Biris for the dedication. John Boozman, Arkansas' junior U.S. senator, was scheduled to tour the facility Thursday.
The elected officials took turns praising UALR's "investment in the future."
Griffin cited the center's ability to attract future high-paying jobs to the state, its potential with national security, and its long-term impact on quality of life through the nanotech research being done in the areas of cancer treatment and other health-care applications.
"This will be an economic engine and a real source of job creation, here and in the private sector," he said.
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UALR Dedicates $15M Nanotechnology Center
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