FSU opens advanced research facility

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Florida State University has unveiled what it hopes is only the first in a series of new, state-of-the-art facilities at Innovation Park.</p>

<p>Scientists, engineers and students began working in the 45,000-square-foot High-Performance Materials Institute last month.</p>

<p>At a Tuesday morning ribbon-cutting ceremony to dedicate the new building, FSU President T.K. Wetherell described the $20 million facility on Levy Drive as the first of five such projects scheduled to take root on the university’s southwest campus.</p>

<p>The High-Performance Materials Institute brings together programs that had been operating at three different buildings, according to Ben Wang, the institute’s director.</p>

<p>There are 13 labs in the new building, and their primary focus will be developing cost-efficient composite materials.</p>

<p>The institute, which works closely with Lockheed Martin, the National Science Foundation and numerous branches of the Defense Department, is known internationally for its work with “buckypaper.” Buckypaper is a lightweight, extra-strong film made with carbon nanotubes.</p>

<p>“This building is a researcher’s dream come true,” Wang said. “Research gives young people not just new knowledge – it gives them imagination and confidence.</p>

<p>“We want to be the research center of corporate America.”

See: [<b>Updated: </b>FSU opens cutting-edge research building | tallahassee.com | Tallahassee Democrat](<a href=“http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20090217/BREAKINGNEWS/90217008”>http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20090217/BREAKINGNEWS/90217008&lt;/a&gt;)</p>

<p>Great news!</p>