The $279 million Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory (MIT LL) will break ground this spring at Hanscom Air Force Base in Boston’s western suburbs.

Well before construction of the MIT.nano building began last summer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s senior project manager Travis Wanat spent months spearheading an effort to determine the prime location for the reported $350-million facility for nanoscience and nanotechnology research.

Using powerful nanotechnology tools, a research team led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has successfully modeled the complex structure of calcium silica hydrate (CSH), the main binding material in cement and concrete.

Field tests of a high-speed video system that reveals distortion by exaggerating tiny deflections show promise as the basis for a new, flexible and relatively inexpensive structural health analysis tool.