George Mason University and Prince William County are betting big on small manufacturing.
The county awarded matching grant funds to the university, which completed a nanofabrication training facility on its Science and Technology Campus just outside Manassas.
Nanofabrication enables the production of new materials, devices, and structures at dimensions less than 100 nanometers (1 nanometer = 1 billionth meter) incorporated into electronic devices, biological sensors, biomedical devices, and optoelectronics.
The facility is billed as the only “clean room” facility to support a “hands-on” educational workforce development program for this growing industry in Northern Virginia.
The facility cost the university $3 million. It used $2.5 million in state grant funds awarded in 2022. The $50,000 from Prince William County was required to win the state grant to show support from the local government.
Mason’s nanofabrication facility will graduate 180 students per year from the program. The school will teach 10 new nanofabrication classes and modify 18 others to fit into the program.
Many companies in and near Prince William County, such as Progeny, NCS, Nikon, Micron, and BAE, are users of nanotechnology, county documents state.
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