A year ago, the only evidence of nanotechnology coming to the area was a concrete slab outside SUNY Poly.

“There was a lot of skepticism,” said Robert Geer, senior vice president and COO of the school. “What is this going to mean? How will it happen? What impacts will there be?”

But Saturday the campus welcomed the community to tour the work in progress at its annual celebration of “NANOvember.”

The $1.5 billion Quad-C chip manufacturing site is a partnership among the state and several private companies. About 1,500 jobs are expected to be generated there, and it could one day become home to three plants.

Locally, Quad-C Community Day drew hundreds, and other communities — such as Albany and Rochester — celebrated simultaneously. Each event promoted the “exciting world of nanoscale science” and explained the many opportunities through presentations, hands-on activities and tours.

Groups traversed gravel paths and maneuvered around caution tape and traffic cones to enter the new building.

“I think it it’s really cool to see them designing our future,” Balor Brennan, 13, said.

While on the tour, people passed large photographs of the building from the day crews broke ground to the day the framing was erected and the windows were installed.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="650"] Tina Russell / Observer-Dispatch | Tina Russell / Observer-Dispatch People exit the tour of Quad-C during Quad-C Community Day at SUNY Poly campus in Marcy Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014. The event is also held in Albany and Rochester to promote nanoscale science.[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="650"] Tina Russell / Observer-Dispatch People get a tour of Quad-C during Quad-C Community Day at SUNY Poly campus in Marcy Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014. The event is also held in Albany and Rochester to promote nanoscale science.[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="650"] Tina Russell / Observer-Dispatch From left, Hope Lowry, 12, and Greg Lowry People take the mitten challenge during Quad-C Community Day at SUNY Poly campus in Marcy Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014. The event is also held in Albany and Rochester to promote nanoscale science.[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="650"] Tina Russell / Observer-Dispatch The Quad-C Community Day at SUNY Poly campus in Marcy Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014. The event is also held in Albany and Rochester to promote nanoscale science.[/caption]

Tour guides offered interesting tidbits like:

• The project already has employed 350 to 400 local construction workers during the past 16 months.
• On average, homes and businesses start out with 6 inches of concrete. The Quad-C building has 31Ž2 feet of concrete and can withstand a 2.5 magnitude earthquake. That’s because the kinds of tools that will be made there cannot be vibrated.
• Those rooms also are cleaner than an operating room. Operating rooms allow 100,000 particles per square foot. In one of Quad-C’s clean rooms, there can only be 1,000 particles per square foot; in another room, 10,000 particles per square foot.
• The building has permission and the capability to use up to 450,000 gallons of water a day.

Utica Observer-Dispatch: SUNY Poly offers tour of region's future

Alissa Scott | Nov 1, 2014

Follow @OD_Scott on Twitter or call her at 792-4956.