The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, more commonly known as RMIT University, has launched a new AU$30 million research facility which the university hopes will drive some major advancements in both microtechnology and nanotechnology.
Called the MicroNano Research Facility (MNRF), it will house what the university claims is the “world’s first” rapid 3D nanoscale printer and will support projects in the areas of engineering, physics, chemistry, biology, and medicine.
According to RMIT University, the MNRF will also provide dozens of cutting-edge tools, such as focused ion beam lithography with helium, neon, and gallium beams to enable imaging and machining of objects to 0.5nm resolution.
Professor James Friend, director at the MNRF, says that ten research teams will be working at the new facility on a variety of projects, such as building miniature motors to retrieve blood clots from deep within the brain. This will make it far easier for surgeons to perform procedures on patients who have been affected by strokes or aneurysms.
The teams also hopes to improve the process of drug delivery through the lungs by using techniques which can atomize large biomolecules – such as drugs, DNA, antibodies, and cells – into miniscule droplets.
Professor Margaret Gardner, the vice-chancellor of RMIT University, says that the facility is bringing numerous disparate disciplines together in order to enable internationally-leading research activity.
“At the heart of the MicroNano Research Facility’s mission is bringing together disparate disciplines to enable internationally leading research activity,” said Professor Gardner. “RMIT has long been a pioneer in this field, opening Australia’s first academic clean rooms at the Microelectronics and Materials Technology Centre in 1983.”
Read more about the story at ZDNet.
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