ANN ARBOR—An artificial eye puts the components of a digital camera on a sphere the size of a human eye. It could lead to better, smaller cameras as well as visual prostheses.

A smart stent could not only prop open a patient’s arteries, but wirelessly transmit readings of pressure and blood flow to warn of blockages.

A wristwatch-sized gas analyzer could detect chemical warfare agents or air pollutants in a few seconds. Today’s systems are the size of a large suitcase and take many minutes.

These are among the countless technologies under development at what used to be the Michigan Nanofabrication Facility and Solid State Electronics Laboratory. Now, with a new name and a new 37,500 square-foot addition and renovation, the Robert H. Lurie Nanofabrication Facility is expected to bring more research opportunities, more jobs and more dollars to the region’s economy.

The building was dedicated today in a ceremony on North Campus. The $40 million project was funded largely by donors, including a leadership gift from Ann Lurie, wife of the late Robert Lurie, a Chicago-based real estate investor who received undergraduate and graduate degrees from the U-M College of Engineering.

“If you have ever wondered what an economic engine looks like, look no further. We all know that our state is undergoing a difficult and sometimes painful economic transformation, as we evolve from a manufacturing base to one that seizes the power and promise of technology and innovation,” President Mary Sue Coleman said.

“We are always looking for ways to extend our impact in terms of job development and research innovation, and the Lurie Nanofabrication Facility is a stunning new asset in these efforts.”

In 2007, the lab hosted 219 users: researchers from U-M and 13 other universities, as well as companies from southeast Michigan and beyond. A total of 22 local companies utilized the lab and 32 researchers used it remotely, meaning engineers here performed the work and sent the companies the results.

The lab brought in $24 million in research grants in 2007. And more than a dozen companies have spun out of research performed in the lab during the last decade, including Sensicore, Handylab, ISSYS, Discera, Mobius Microsystems, PicoCal, and NeuroNexus Technologies.

A 2007 study commissioned by the National Science Foundation on the Engineering Research Center for Wireless Integrated Microsystems (WIMS), a heavy user of the lab, estimated that WIMS companies created 94 new jobs for a total value of employment of $26.3 million. A majority of these jobs have remained in southeast Michigan.

Discera and Sensicore alone have received at least $60.7 million in venture capital and $42.3 million of that came from outside Michigan, the WIMS report states. WIMS, which accounts for about half of the research conducted in the lab, has generated $256.4 million worth of quantifiable economic impacts for the state since 2000, the report says.

U-M officials say the addition and renovation will enable even greater opportunities

“This expansion represents a very important investment of the University,” said professor Kensall Wise, director of WIMS and the LNF. “We expect it to reap huge dividends in terms of jobs and contribute to the quality of life, not only here in Michigan, but across the globe. This is a world-class center and many of the things that come out of it will change the way people live.”

The lab expansion brings a nearly 70 percent increase in cleanroom square footage. An additional 4,500 square feet was built, bringing the clean room to 11,000 square feet. A 2,800-square-foot wet facility was built by renovating existing space. Most wet chemistry couldn’t be performed in the old lab because it could contaminate the nanotechnology work underway there. Approximately $20 million in new state-of-the-art equipment will be purchased and installed during the next few years.

Most of the new construction isn’t lab space. It’s support space, where scrubbers, fans and filters reside to keep the cleanroom clean and the entire facility safe.

Stephen Forrest, vice president for research and a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, uses the lab every day. The artificial eye is one of his projects.

“To create something like this, you need many different pieces of complex and expensive processing equipment,” Forrest said. “The infrastructure in this lab is well beyond what most small companies and even medium-sized companies could afford. It would be almost impossible for them to build their own labs. And we have it all right here. It’s not just about machines and cleanrooms, but about the expertise of the technical staff as well.”

The facility is one of 13 nodes on the National Science Foundation’s National Nanofabrication Infrastructure Network.

In Small Times magazine’s 2007 survey (before this renovation), editors ranked it in the top five labs for nanotechnology research, education and facilities.

or more information:

The former Michigan Nanofabrication Facility and Solid State Electronics Lab: www.mnf.umich.edu/

Kensall Wise: www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/public/experts/ExpDisplay.php?ExpID=832

Stephen Forrest: http://www.umich.edu/~ocm/

Lurie Nanofabrication Facility and Solid State Electronics LabKensall Wise