The US has always been big on superlatives – the best, the biggest – now the nation is also excelling in the smallest with its growing nanotech sector. Susan Birks reviews the country’s cleanroom-related sectors to see where the growth is.
Despite being severely affected by the global economic slow down, the US remains one of the larger markets for cleanrooms and contamination control products. According to market research group McIlvaine, its consumables market was estimated to be in the region of US$1.4bn in 20111 – smaller than Asia’s fast-growing market, but larger than Europe’s.
The US was one of the pioneering nations in the development of cleanrooms and cleanroom standards during the early evolution of its space and electronics industries. Recent austerity measures have seen space budgets slashed, however, and both sectors are now fighting to retain their position in today’s competitive arena, curbing cleanroom investment as a result. On the other hand, the US boasts one of the biggest spends on healthcare and medical devices and as a result more and more medical device assembly and packaging cleanrooms are being built around the country to serve this dynamic sector.
The US is also leading in areas of science, such as nanotechnology and biotechnology, where supersize R&D budgets are providing cutting-edge research facilities.
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