Industry News

The University of North Dakota is building the $15.5 million Collaborative Energy Center in Grand Forks. Ground was broken in July of 2015 on the 37,000-sf facility, which will serve as a headquarters for all energy-related programs within the College of Engineering & Mines, including the Institute for Energy Studies. Providing advanced laboratories and multipurpose teaching venues, the project will support interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation among students, faculty, and industry partners.

Lightweight metals manufacturer Alcoa is investing $60 million to expand its research and development campus. Located near Pittsburgh at the Alcoa Technical Center in New Kensington, Pa., the project includes construction of a state-of-the-art additive manufacturing center. Supporting the implementation of Alcoa’s Ampliforge™ process, a technique combining additive and traditional manufacturing to enhance the properties of materials, the center will accommodate the production of proprietary metal powders engineered specifically for 3D printing.

Lambton College will begin construction in spring of 2016 on the $30 million Nova Chemical Health and Research Centre in Sarnia, Ontario. Designed to foster the collaborative delivery of team-based healthcare, the 60,000-sf interprofessional education building will feature flexible learning studios instead of traditional classrooms. The technology-rich facility will provide simulation suites including model apartments as well as a 125-seat amphitheater. Completion is expected in late 2017.

The University of Central Florida is planning to build the $30 million Interdisciplinary Research and Incubator facility in Orlando. The first phase of construction will create a three-story, 67,000-sf building providing 31 research and incubator suites, many of which will include wet lab space. The multidisciplinary facility will house offices, lecture halls, and conference rooms, and will be used by researchers from the University as well as offering leased space for industry partners. Construction will begin in January of 2016 with completion expected by summer of 2017.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory opened the $59 million Chu Hall in September of 2015. Designed by SmithGroupJJR of San Francisco, the three-story, 39,000-sf facility will support research on electrochemical and photovoltaic solar energy technologies. Chu Hall houses the administrative offices of the Kavli Energy NanoSciences Institute as well as the northern branch of the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, a laboratory created in partnership with the California Institute of Technology and funded by the Department of Energy.