LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - The newest building at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock was officially opened Wednesday.
UALR officially opened the Center for Integrative Nanotechnology Sciences. The five-story hall will provide laboratory space and scientists and researchers. Students from the high school to the post-doctoral level can interact with researchers and representatives of local companies.
Arkansas got a boost on the future job front Wednesday and the spark could come from molecules and atoms.
UALR officials were joined by Governor Mike Beebe to announce the opening of the new Center for Nanotechnology Sciences.
Students will have better opportunities to advance nanotechnology that could develop efficient energy or help find a cure for cancer. The puzzling game of scientific research keeps Joshua Moore going back to the lab.
"It's fun to figure out why it didn't go the way you expected it to go," says Moore.
Moore grew up in Carlisle and chose to work on his P.H.D. at UALR. He says the new Center for nanotechnology is a big draw.
Governor Mike Beebe says the facility will bring in bright students and make life better in Arkansas.
Improving the quality of life is absolutely unlimited in these fields," says Beebe.
The center's 50-thousand square feet will house laboratories with high powered microscopes, offices for scientists and a greenhouse on the roof. The governor says UALR's commitment to marketing technology projects into the real world can create jobs.
"The applications are endless from the medical field to products to agriculture research and virtually any application you want to go forward," says Beebe.
Moore will work on the second floor with a film deposition system. The machine creates a small film that harnesses sunlight and creates electricity.
"I feel like that might be the future of where energy dependence runs to. There's going to be wind, water, multiple different sources but I feel like organic solar cells will have a vital role in that and I want to be a part of it," says Moore.
12 universities across the state and region, created a partnership with the FDA's Center for National Toxicological Research to develop advances in nanomedicine, and nanotoxicology. Their research has generated eight patents with 27 more pending.
Globally, nanotechnologies are estimated to grow by $2.4 trillion by 2015 affecting everyday products such as eyeglasses, computer displays, and pharmaceutical products. By 2020, nanotechnology is projected to create 2 million jobs in the U.S.