IMRA America breaks ground for expansion of its Ann Arbor, MI, facilities
IMRA America, Inc. (IMRA), a developer of ultrafast fiber laser technologies for commercial applications, hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on May 12 for the addition of a fourth building that will nearly double the size of its Ann Arbor, MI, facilities. In addition, the company held a ribbon cutting ceremony on the same day for its newly expanded cleanroom facility.
The company expects construction of the new building to be completed by spring 2009.
IMRA is expanding its R&D capacity by the addition of this fourth building, which will add ~22,000 sq. ft. of floor space, nearly doubling the total size of the IMRA facility to more than 54,000 sq. ft. The expansion of its facility and operations will necessitate the hiring of at least 20 more people with various technical skills and capabilities over the next two to three years
The Class 10,000 clean room is being expanded from 1,300 sq. ft. to 3,430 sq. ft. and the attached Class 100,000 gowning area will double in size from 400 sq. ft. to 800 sq. ft.
Guest speakers at the ground breaking ceremony included: the Hon. Tamotsu Shinotsuka, Consul General of Japan at Detroit; Cynthia Wilbanks, VP for Government Relations at the University of Michigan; Don Whitsitt, president of Aisin World Corp of America; and Michael Finny, president and CEO of SPARK.
Commenting on the expansion, Takashi Omitsu, president and CEO of IMRA, said, "This new expansion will give IMRA the capability of further developing applications technologies that can use its ultrafast fiber lasers, such as: energy related device technologies, environmental technologies, bio technologies and semiconductor technologies. We intend to collaborate with outside research and development institutions and commercial customers on various projects to develop specific applications in these areas."
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