Controlled Environments is pleased to announce a new column on nanotech facility design by industry expert Ahmad Soueid, AIA, LEED^®AP, National Director Advanced Research Program with HDR CUH2A. Beginning in January 2010, Ahmad will be writing a quarterly column with a preview in the December 2009 issue.

Nanotechnology has been on scientists’ radar for over two decades. However, this past decade, and even the past five years, has seen amazing strides in nanotechnology both in research and product development. Some of these accomplishments are due in large part to facilities built to meet the stringent requirements of many nano-scale research programs. However, existing planning, programming, design, and construction guidelines do not fully address the requirements of this new facility type.

Ahmad Soueid, AIA, LEED^®AP, designs the critical environments that advance science and technology with sustainable solutions enabling leading edge research and improving the quality of life. He has focused his career on the design of specialized buildings, and on nanotechnology in particular, for the past eighteen years. At the heart of all nano-scale research is the manipulation of materials at the molecular level; a pursuit which requires the ability to accurately measure at this scale as well. Ahmad is considered a global leader in planning, design, and construction of facilities established for research or production at the nanometer scale. His focus is to provide creative design solutions for projects in advanced research fields such as nanotechnology, metrology, material sciences, atomic characterization and manipulation, nanofabrication, quantum computing, and accelerator physics.

He has led design efforts on multiple nanoscale research laboratory projects for leading national laboratories and higher education institutions across the US. He also consulted as a technical advisor on nanoscale research facilities in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Russia, Mexico, and Portugal. One of Ahmad’s earliest projects, The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Measurement Laboratory (AML) is the first to achieve concurrent stability in temperature, vibration, and power to the degree required for this research. Because of its stable environment, the NIST AML is used as a benchmark in designing labs worldwide.

In fact, soon after its completion, so many leaders in nanotechnology visited the NIST AML to determine how to replicate aspects of its research facilities, that Ahmad collaborated with others involved with the project and co-chaired the www.nanobuildings.com “Buildings for Advanced Technology” (BAT) Workshop Series organized in part by the US National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO). The original BAT workshop mission was to better disseminate the valuable lessons learned from this flagship project. BAT-II and BAT-III soon followed and included specific themes such as defining science needs, developing technical criteria, outlining trends, and documenting lessons learned from the various leading nanotech facilities. The BAT workshop series was attended by scientists, architects, engineers, technologists, and builders from organizations around the world.