CAMBRIDGE, England, May 18 -- Cambridge Display Technology (CDT), a developer of light emitting polymer (LEP) technology for flat panel displays and lighting, has started clean room and other construction activities in a planned $25 million technology development facility in the UK.
    The new 1750 square meter facility will be the driving force behind CDT's commercialization strategy for LEPs by increasing the scale and scope of intellectual property available to its licensees as well as providing the capability to test new materials and LEP device structures on a commercial scale.
    CDT is recruiting steadily for technologists and engineers and plans to have the manufacturing facility operational in early 2002, eventually employing forty new staff. The first equipment is planned for installation in the third quarter of this year. The facility is based in Godmanchester, some 15 miles from CDT's headquarters and R&D center in Cambridge. It includes contingency space to accommodate future expansion plans.
    "Cambridge is the location of our current development facility and is renowned for being an intellectual powerhouse and home to a community of talented scientists," said David Fyfe, CDT's CEO. "It makes sense for us to take advantage of this skills base and place our new pilot facility in close proximity."