In August, the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) announced that it had received the largest single gift in its history to create a state-of-the-art nanotechnology research center. Krishna Singh GME’69 Gr’72 gave $20 million to name the building, which represents a key part of the school’s strategic development plan.
“We are walking three feet above the ground,” exclaimed SEAS Dean Eduardo Glandt GCh’75 Gr’77, who added that Singh’s gift had already set off a cascade of supporting pledges for the new center. Because nanotechnology research requires lab space that is free of dust and vibration, and equipped with sophisticated chemical-delivery systems, it is unusually dependent on very expensive infrastructure. “I don’t think there is any other area, besides working with the Ebola virus and things like that, that is more facilities-intensive,” Glandt said.
An architect search is now under way for the Krishna P. Singh Center for Nanotechnology, which will be located on the north side of Walnut Street, east of 33rd Street. Groundbreaking is tentatively planned for early 2009.
—T.P.
