UMass Nano Technology Cache Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

Massquerade: I am regretfully archiving this cache since there's been no response from nor action by the cache owner within the time frame requested in the last reviewer note. The cache owner should retrieve any remaining cache contents at their earliest convenience.

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Hidden : 07/08/2006
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

This is a nano-sized cache located on the UMass campus in the Engineering buildings area.

ABOUT THE CACHE
1/3/2013 Update: I have decreased the difficulty to 2 as earlier suggested by geocachers. When first placed back in July of 2006, Nano-caches weren't as common and I felt it would be hard to find. I have also updated the hints to be more challenging than they were before.

The cache usually should contain a nano-small logbook for your signing pleasure. If possible, use picture-logging in your post to prove you were there. I suggest a photo of the cache in your hand, facing or standing well away from the hiding location. If you must sign the log, please sign with only your initials, and report how many sign-off slots are remaining so that maybe the next finder can bring a new log to insert. The log paper width is about 1/4-inch by a length of about 2 feet.

I'd like to know who reads the hints in the HINTS section. Braver folk can try to find it simply based on the given coordinates. Accuracy of the GPS when placing the cache got down to about +/- 20 feet on Garmin units.

SPECIAL THANKS to Western Mass Clan (visit link) for helping evaluate and maintain this cache during its existence.

Having graduated back in 1994 while they were building the Silvio O Conte Polymer Research Center, I was always interested to come back some day and visit the site to see what had been accomplished with, and within, the building. I figured a themed/educational cache would be the best way to let others know about local technology research efforts here at UMass.

For more detailed facts about Nanotechnology Research at UMass visit this pdf file link: (visit link)
and facts on one of the nano labs within the Silvio O. Conte Center itself: (visit link)

ABOUT THE SILVIO O. CONTE
NATIONAL CENTER FOR POLYMER RESEARCH BUILDING
The two wings of the Center are structurally separate, with connections on each floor via an elevator lobby. The lab wing contains 123,000 square feet, the office wing 39,000 square feet, and the six elevator lobbies 10,000 square feet.

Office Wing
Faculty and student offices are found on floors two through six, with space on the first floor reserved for a 150-seat conference room and the main administrative offices. All spaces are connected with twisted pair fiber-optic communication cables, creating a central data network that extends to the laboratory wing. Also contained within the office wing are the following specialized spaces: 20 faculty offices, 20 post doctoral offices, 160 student offices, 15 secretarial stations, 5 lounge/lunch areas, 2 library/study areas

Laboratory Wing
The laboratory wing is slightly taller than the office wing, consisting of 6 lower floors of laboratory space and 2 1/2 stories of mechanical penthouse. The layout of the lab floors follows a suite concept, with labs clustered around short sub-corridors linked to a large central corridor. The six laboratory floors house 113 individual research labs ranging from 800 to 2100 square feet. Larger and heavier instruments, such as electron microscopes and mechanical testing equipment, are located in specialized rooms on the lower floors, while synthetic laboratories are clustered on the upper two floors. The entire complex contains 150 energy efficient variable volume fume hoods, with enough installed duct work to accommodate 75 more. Exhaust air from the hoods is convected upward via a large chase to the top of an adjacent 17 story building. All labs are supplied with nitrogen, compressed air, deionized water, and processed chilled water for instrument cooling.

Design and Construction
Designers and architects were Ellenzweig and Associates, Inc., of Cambridge, in collaboration with Whitney, Atwood, and Norcross Associates of Boston. The builder was R. W. Grainger of Cambridge. The $56 million project was designed over 22 months beginning in October 1989. The building itself was constructed in the 45 months beginning in August 1991.

ABOUT UMASS POLYMER RESEARCH
Several somewhat recent surveys have ranked the PSE department highly in comparison to its academic peers. In 1996 and again in 1998, for example, U.S. News and World Report listed the PSE department as the top-ranking Polymer Chemistry program in the nation. In its most recent evaluation, the National Research Council ranked the PSE department second in quality of education and seventh in quality of scholarship among all Materials departments in the U.S. These rankings are particularly noteworthy given that PSE is neither a chemistry nor a materials department.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

1. yrsg bs gur znva ohvyqvat ragenapr 2. zntargvp 3. fvg qbja!

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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