Industry News

Construction will begin in late 2018 on the £20 million Maritime Knowledge Hub in Birkenhead in the United Kingdom. Located in the Wirral Waters redevelopment, the collaborative maritime education and research facility is being created by a partnership of Liverpool John Moores University, Peel Land and Property, Mersey Maritime, and Wirral Council.

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) inaugurated the 145,300-sf Dow Innovation Center in May of 2018. Created in partnership with The Dow Chemical Company, the facility offers sophisticated research laboratories for creation of advanced technologies for water, oil, and gas processing, and the development of innovative construction materials and coatings. The project was designed by HOK and Kirksey Architects with Vanderweil Engineers as MEP engineer.

The University of Tennessee will break ground in fall of 2018 on a $129 million engineering building in Knoxville. Designed by McCarty Holsaple McCarty with SmithGroupJJR as laboratory planner, the facility will comprise a central structure with two wings of up to five stories. The 228,000-sf project will provide flexible classrooms and research labs, maker spaces, project rooms, informal interaction areas, an atrium, and dedicated space for the department of nuclear engineering.

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories began construction in February of 2018 on three new facilities in Chalk River, Ontario. Representing an investment of over CAD$100 million, the project includes:

The Department of Energy is planning research infrastructure upgrades to multiple user facilities. The U.S. House of Representatives passed three bills in November of 2017 to provide funding for these projects. 

The Research Infrastructure Act directs and authorizes the Secretary of Energy to: