Sandia dedicates Microfab and Microlab Facilities

Sandia National Laboratories' Microfab and Microlab facilities on Kirtland Air Force Base were formally dedicated and opened.

The on-time and on-budget Microlab building - a key third of the half-billion-dollar MESA complex, Sandia's largest project ever - is one of the most architecturally attractive buildings Sandia has yet built.

Microlab is ringed by closely spaced boulders to protect against vehicular security incidents. The eco-friendly design - with light coming in from external walls of glass and large skylights three stories above the building's central corridor - is expected to encourage interactions among groups formerly separated in Sandia's work force.

The MicroFab building replaces Sandia's aging Compound Semiconductor Research Laboratory. The new three-story facility is one of the most modern and complex buildings at Sandia and was the first of three new facilities that make up the MESA complex. Its structure includes sophisticated safety systems and controls because of the hazardous materials used in the production of compound semiconductors.

Still to be completed for the MESA project is the Weapons Integration Facility, expected to be structurally finished later this year and operational in 2008.

The Microsystems and Engineering Sciences Applications construction project supports the NNSA's Defense Programs mission for research, development, and simulation.

There have been no increases to the total project cost, project schedule, or original scope objectives since the project was originally baselined in October 2002.

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