The West Midlands is set to become the heart of Britain's science technology industry with a new £80 million manufacturing complex that will create 10,000 jobs. Plans have been drawn up for the world's largest centre for nanoscience to be based along the A38 technology corridor in Birmingham. The city's universities, businesses and MPs are pushing for the national centre for microsystems and nanotechnology which would draw on the region's international reputation for modern research and secure its place as the country's manufacturing hub. The regional development agency Advantage West Midlands is co-ordinating the bid which is expected to be rubberstamped by the Department of Trade and Industry in the summer. Peers and MPs from all the major political parties have backed the plans and the Government has pledged £40 million if the centre gets the go-ahead with that amount matched by businesses, Europe and the universities. John Edwards, chief executive of Advantage West Midlands, said the microsystems and nanotechnology centre was one of the most important projects for the West Midlands economy for years. "There is no doubt that the development and production of microsystems and nanotechnology will be increasingly important to the UK economy if we are to remain competitive in global manufacturing markets," he said. "Our proposal is based on the fact that we can bring together the research work already being done in the region's universities and at Qinetiq at Malvern." Nanoscience refers to the understanding of the natural world on the nanoscale - one nanometre is one billionth of a metre, approximately 100,000 times smaller than the thickness of a human hair. Microsystems and nanotechnology are used increasingly in every walk of life with applications ranging from surgery to car airbags, inkjet printers and aerospace equipment. The West Midlands has a globally-recognised academic base in nanoscale science and engineering with more than 100 researchers active in the field. Microsystem and nanotechnological research at the universities of Aston, Birmingham and Qinetiq - Britain's largest independent science company and formally part of the Defence Evaluation Research Agency - is among the best in the world. The new centre will be sited along the route of the A38 technology corridor that runs through Worcestershire and links Birmingham with Malvern in Worcestershire. Locations in Birmingham currently being looked at include Pebble Mill and the Battery Park industrial estate in Selly Oak. The centre would complement the University of Birmingham's NanoTech Centre which was launched last December as the first phase of a vision to establish the region as a global force. Prof Graham Davies, head of the university's School of Engineering and chief executive officer of the NanoTech Centre, said: "This will lead to the second industrial revolution and where better for this to take place than the West Midlands." The plans will now go before DTI Minister Lord Salisbury in May and a firm decision is expected in early summer. | 
