Gino Manzo, director of the BAE Systems Microelectronics Technology and Products (MTP) Group, as well as BAE's Manassas, Va., location site executive, joins the list of keynote speakers at the opening of the first building dedicated to Virginia Tech's Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (ICTAS) on Friday, Sept. 21 at 4 p.m.

ICTAS’ first building will house the Nanoscale Characterization and Fabrication Laboratory (NCFL) at the Corporate Research Center. The NCFL will allow Virginia Tech to have capabilities on par with the best nanotechnology labs in the world.

Manzo has more than 30 years of experience working for BAE Systems in all phases of semiconductor product development and production. His MTP group consists of three distinct microelectronics organizations: the Semiconductor Technology Center in Manassas; the Microwave Electronics Center in Nashua, N.H.; and the Advanced Focal Plane Array group in Lexington, Mass.

Other keynote speakers for the dedication will be: Aneesh Chopra, Virginia’s Secretary of Technology; The Hon. Joe May, the head of Virginia’s Joint Commission on Technology and Science (JCOTS); and Ray Martin, retired chief executive officer of Schnabel Engineering, owner of Ray E. Martin, LLC., and former co-chair of Virginia Tech’s ICTAS Task Force.

The building will provide 16,000 square feet for the NCFL laboratory plus 16,000 square feet for related office space. It will provide a collaborative home to existing and new state-of-the-art tools for fabrication, characterization and testing materials at the macro, micro and nano scale as well as office space for faculty, staff and students involved in these efforts.

The Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science was founded on the premise that Virginia Tech’s existing research strengths should be leveraged and promoted to position the university as a leader in research on the state, national and international level,” said Roop Mahajan, ICTAS director and the James Tucker Professor of Engineering.

“The institute will accomplish this through coordination of the university’s talented and creative faculty in the pursuit of interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary research. Entrepreneurial and dynamic in nature, the institute will lead technology transformation by nurturing a proactive, responsive and nimble research culture, ultimately positioning the university as an agent of discovery and problem solving in the technological and scientific global environment,” Mahajan added.

In particular, ICTAS will foster the exploration of opportunities for societal enhancement and preservation for future generations. ICTAS is targeting the following technology areas: nanotechnology; cellular and molecular biology; sustainable development: energy, water, and materials; and cognitive systems and communication.

The second ICTAS building, currently under construction, is expected to open during summer 2008, and will include an additional 100,000 square feet of engineering-led research labs, offices, and workspaces. ICTAS I will also serve as the research institute’s headquarters. A third building is in the design stages.

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