Georgia Tech will celebrate the groundbreaking of its Molecular Science and Engineering building on Friday, April 15, at 3 p.m.. Lawrenceville-based Scientific-Atlanta will also be marking the occasion with a check presentation of $1 million in support of the innovative new research environment. The facility is the fourth and final building in the Biotechnology Complex, which will house research at the boundaries of engineering, computing and science. The building is designed to help foster interactions between scientists and engineers whose research interests intersect in a common area - in this case, materials and the molecular basis of their structures and properties.

Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough says, "The Molecular Science and Engineering Building will provide an interdisciplinary environment for faculty and students to examine and explore materials at the atomic and molecular level. It supports Georgia Tech's role as a national leader in nanotechnology."

The Molecular Science and Engineering Building will be a 200,000-square-foot facility that will house 60 faculty members and their students. The internal design will maximize the interactions between faculty members and their students in both offices and laboratories, and the building will be connected to two of the other buildings in the Biotechnology Complex by pedestrian passageways. The building's laboratory design will be modular and easily convertible to new applications. Space assignments will be made to group researchers with common interests, intentionally crossing traditional disciplinary boundaries.

The estimated $60 million needed to build the Molecular Science and Engineering building is being raised through private gifts and grants from alumni, friends, corporations and foundations that will complement Institute funds generated through sponsored research grants and contracts. No state funds are anticipated.

Advances in understanding the chemistry, physics and engineering of materials will have an immense impact on human life. For example, magnetic nanoparticles may be used to treat cancer. Dispersions of nanoparticles in tumors, combined with the application of an external magnetic field, could kill cancer cells without damaging nearby healthy tissue. Clearly, the new building will allow Tech's inspired researchers to make discoveries that will lead to as yet unimagined improvements in the quality of human life.

Tech will celebrate the groundbreaking with a check presentation from Scientific-Atlanta and remarks from President Wayne Clough.

About Scientific-Atlanta

Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. (NYSE: SFA - http://www.scientificatlanta.com) is a leading supplier of digital content contribution and distribution systems, transmission networks for broadband access to the home, digital interactive set-tops and subscriber systems designed for video, high-speed Internet and voice over IP (VoIP) networks, and worldwide customer service and support.