An artist's rendering of the new compound semiconductor laboratory and microsystem integration facility at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory Campus on Hansom Air Force Base, Massachusetts. The Air Force Civil Engineer Center's Facility Engineering Directorate will lead the construction scheduled to be complete in 2025. (Courtesy graphic)

The Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC) has awarded a $278.6 million project to construct a modern laboratory needed for development of advanced technologies on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory campus, at Hanscom Air Force Base northwest of Boston.

The award is the result of a collaborative partnership between AFCEC, Hanscom's 66th Civil Engineering Division, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' New England District and the MIT Lincoln Laboratory.

The joint venture of Providence, R.I.'s Gilbane Building Co. and Exyte U.S. Inc., a design, engineering and construction firm based in Union, N.J., was chosen to build an advanced, 161,000-sq.-ft. compound semiconductor laboratory and microsystem integration facility for MIT at Hanscom to address national security demands, AFCEC announced Feb. 1 on its website.

"Resilient and sustainable infrastructure is critical to Air and Space Force operations and missions globally," said Col. Dave Norton, deputy director of AFCEC's Facilities Engineering Directorate. "AFCEC continues to partner with installations enterprise-wide to provide integrated infrastructure solutions required for effective execution of their missions and priorities."

MIT's Lincoln Laboratory has been a Department of Defense and federally funded research and development center since the 1950s. The team of researchers at the lab develops modern technologies critical to national security, from first concept through simulation and analysis, to design and prototyping, and finally field demonstration.

The laboratory has a long history of supporting the nation's military with technological advancements and it requires modern and safe facilities to continue to innovate. Among the technologies it works to improve for the nation are radars, lasers and microelectronics that are key to modern defense systems, Norton said.

The new three-level building planned for MIT at Hanscom AFB will consolidate the distributed compound semiconductor and advanced packaging laboratories into a single, purpose-built facility designed to safely handle and support complex electronic research and development functions.

"Our effort demonstrates the Air Force's commitment to provide advanced infrastructure to enhance mission capabilities at MIT Lincoln Laboratory," said Mai Stevens, AFCEC's program manager. "We look forward to successfully executing this project through different construction phases with our partners."

AFCEC is a unit of the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center and supplies design and planning for the compound semiconductor laboratory and microsystem integration facility. It will oversee the new construction to ensure the project is delivered on time and within budget.

Hanscom is home to the 66th Air Base Group which provides support to the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center with warfighting systems and air, space, and cyber capabilities.

Construction on the new MIT lab is expected to be complete in 2025.

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