Cambridge Polymer Labs

The Cambridge Polymer Labs is a location in the Commonwealth in Fallout 4. There is a "polymer coating applicator" machine that can combine polymers and isotopes on the first floor after radioactive decontamination. Isotopes and polymers can be found throughout the area.

Background
Cambridge Polymer Labs was created as a result of the research of three CIT graduate students, Jon Elwood-Woolum, Ericka Elwood-Woolum, and Wilfred Bergman. The company worked in defense solutions and research for the military. Jon Elwood became the director of the facility and was married to Ericka Woolum. The company had been working on a new piece of power armor before the bombs fell. They were on a military contract to produce this power armor for soldiers fighting in the war. When the bombs were dropped, Jon Elwood was told by the military that only essential personal would be given a military escort to safety. Because of this, he locked the scientists, including his wife, into their labs until the project was completed. If the team was able to complete the project, Elwood would have reached out to his contact in the military and received a safe escape. Unfortunately, he kept every scientist besides his wife out of the loop with what was really happening above ground because Jon feared they would all panic and be unable to complete the project. This lack of information created internal conflict between the scientists, which ended up preventing the scientists from completing their work. The exposure to radiation Jon received from his trips to finding a working phone ended up killing him and turning him into a feral ghoul. The scientists were all met with a similar fate; still locked in the lab.

Main Lobby
When first entering the polymer labs, directly to the left is the orientation room, where Molly briefs the Sole Survivor on a job acquired in the quest Cambridge Polymer Labs. Before entering the orientation room, the male and female restrooms are located to the right. To the right lies a passage that brings the player to the clean room and allows access to the rest of the facility. Behind the service desk is a storage area and a door to the right of the wanderer. This door brings the wanderer upstairs to more storage areas to the immediate right of the top of the staircase as well as a office location to the far left of the second floor. In the center of the 2nd floor is the Directors office. A terminal is located within that further explains what happened before the destruction of the building. On the second floor is a locked ammo box (novice) on one of the desks near some filing cabinets.

Research Area
The research area has a layout like a vault. On the first floor, as well as the second floor the Sole Survivor will find several numbered samples containers for the quest Cambridge Polymer Labs. A glowing one can be found in a highly irradiated area near the north most section of the first floor. This is also the location of the U-238 also needed for the quest Cambridge Polymer Labs. (see Notable loot for the location of a Hazmat suit in the research area)

Experiment Samples Numbers & Names
It is notable that a Piezonucleic power armor can be created once by combining U-238 with Sample 611 Gold and Sample 3111 Lithium Hydride.

Notable loot

 * Vault-Tec lunchbox - when you enter the building head straight back to the wall and on the right you will find it on the counter.
 * Piezonucleic power armor - rewarded for completing the experiment.
 * Hazmat suit - in the southwestern-most room (Room immediately left of room C4), on the first floor of the room where the player character first encounters the feral ghouls.
 * Massachusetts Surgical Journal - can be found in the director's office (Master locked door) on the second floor, next to a computer terminal. Key to the room can be obtained from Molly.
 * Nuka Cola Quantum in the Nuka Cola fridge in the break room.
 * Fusion core - found in the west corner of the directors office on the second floor within a display case.
 * Research Samples.
 * Unidentified sample 49 - 2nd floor, the room (room C1) on the east catwalk, on the desk with the skeleton wearing the trilby hat.
 * Unidentified sample 611 - 2nd floor, the room off of the (collapsed) west catwalk, on the desk next to the active computer terminal.
 * Unidentified sample 11317 - In the first room on the Polymer Coating Applicator machine.
 * Unknown sample 3111 - In the same room as the radiation suit (just south of room C4).
 * Unidentified sample 413 - In the first-floor room (room C4) directly across from the room with the Polymer Coating Applicator.
 * Unidentified sample 65 - In the northwestern-most first floor room. The Sole Survivor need to go through the room with unidentified sample 413 to get there.
 * U-238 can be found in the Isotope Containment Chamber. You can unlock it via the terminal in C5 (which you can access via room C4; you can confirm which room is which by reading room numbers on the walls). The Isotope Containment Chamber is the room immediately to the left of room C2, or rather it's the room immediately to the right of the staircase if you're facing said staircase. Be sure to have Rad-X/Rad-Away/a Hazmat Suit before entering as there will be a Glowing One inside as well. Across the radioactive "pond", there is a shelf that has a single test tube in a rack which is the U-238 that you are looking for.
 * Suicide letter next to the skeleton of Tom Franklin on the 2nd floor in the research area. The skeleton wears a hat, a pair of sunglasses and is next to a cup of tea and an arsenic box.

Related quests

 * Cambridge Polymer Labs (quest)
 * Underground Undercover

Appearances
The Cambridge Polymer Labs only appears in Fallout 4.

Behind the scenes

 * Cambridge Polymer Labs does advanced research for the United States military. In real life, this work would be for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). However in Fallout, it is called the Defense Experimental Research Projects Initiative, or "DERPI".
 * The term "polymer", is a bit of a misnomer, as their research in 2077 wasn't based on polymers. Rather, it was focusing on other forms of solid state materials.