Carnegie Mellon University is constructing the $100 million Robotics Innovation Center in Pittsburgh. Designed by Perkins Eastman, the three-story, 150,000-sf facility will feature reconfigurable high-bay labs and flexible R&D venues that address robotic systems at different scales. Open wet labs will allow interdisciplinary teams to engage in group projects, supported by a range of specialized shops and instrumentation suites.
Virginia Tech will open the $85 million Hitt Hall in August of 2024. Providing 33,000 sf of dedicated space for the Myers-Lawson School of Construction, the 99,429-sf facility also integrates leading-edge academic spaces and dining amenities. The three-story structure features the Innovation Lab, a high-bay venue where students can work on large-scale projects, with the surrounding Innovation Plaza supplying additional capacity for outdoor instruction and demonstrations.
Texas A&M University broke ground in May of 2024 on the $41 million Engineering Classroom and Research Building. Designed by Page, the 54,000-sf facility will elevate the experience of first-year students and accommodate growing enrollment. The three-story building will feature a technology makerspace with advanced design and prototyping equipment, as well as faculty-led research laboratories.
Texas State University will begin construction in August of 2024 on the $140 million STEM Classroom Building in San Marcos. Designed by Ayers Saint Gross and PGAL, the eight-story, 168,000-gsf facility will house the departments of mathematics and computer science, as well as providing instructional venues, class labs, departmental offices, and research labs for several other academic disciplines.
UNC Charlotte has plotted a course for the future that prepares the campus for an 11% enrollment increase overall, with a 13% increase in STEM disciplines. The priority is student success, a UNC systemwide performance-based metric for a new funding model that ties funding to student success and graduation rates rather than just enrollment numbers. The goal is for more students to graduate on time with less debt. The strategy to achieve that goal includes creating the kinds of spaces that students need and want in order to succeed, with more opportunities for active, hands-on learning.
Montana State University is constructing Gianforte Hall to accommodate world-class programs in computer science, technology, and related fields of study. Designed by Lake Flato and Hennebery Eddy Architects, the 58,000-nsf building will provide teaching and research labs for robotics, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, software development, and augmented and virtual reality.
The University of California, Berkeley is planning to construct the Bakar ClimatEnginuity Hub as part of a new downtown innovation zone. Designed by Gensler, the five-story, 145,000-sf facility will provide wet and dry laboratories, collaboration spaces, conference rooms, and offices. The robust structure will also include flexible scale-up suites for the development of renewable energy solutions, carbon-capture technologies, and greener building materials and agricultural practices.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is constructing the Sustainable Engineering Laboratories, a national hub for clean energy innovation. Featuring flexible, multimodal learning venues, the $125 million facility was designed by Payette to provide technology-rich environments for immersive teaching and research programs. The vibrant structure will house the Energy Transition Institute, the Wind Energy Center, the UMass Transportation Center, and labs for autonomous vehicle technologies, energy storage, and ocean energy systems.
Oregon State University broke ground in April of 2024 on the $213 million Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex in Corvallis. Designed by ZGF Architects, the 143,000-sf facility will accommodate team-based research programs in semiconductors, materials science, artificial intelligence, and robotics. These next-generation technologies will provide new solutions to global challenges in climate science, oceanography, and water resources.
The University of Rochester opened the newly expanded Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) in May of 2024 in Brighton, N.Y. Featuring Class 1000 cleanrooms, the 66,600-sf addition includes general and wet-bench research venues, a laser computing center, and open office environments. The three-story structure will enable the construction of the AMICA laser system, prototyping of the NSF OPAL lasers, and the creation of next-generation targets, diagnostics, and optics for national security efforts.
The University of Connecticut has spent 10 years and $1.5 billion expanding and modernizing its science, technology, engineering, and math offerings, and increasing the number of STEM students by 4,000. The initiative, called Next Generation Connecticut (NextGenCT), included the construction of a new 198,000-sf facility and the renovation and expansion of the largest STEM building on the main campus in Storrs. The approach to both projects was to focus first on modernizing the way those subjects are taught and then on designing the space itself.
Construction began in May of 2024 on Heathcock Hall, a new 81,700-gsf interdisciplinary research and education building for UC Berkeley’s College of Chemistry. Accommodating programs in synthetic chemistry, physical chemistry, and chemical and biomolecular engineering, the structure will house six stories of research labs, support space, offices, and collaboration venues for investigators, faculty, and students. Heathcock Hall will be connected to two adjacent buildings—Latimer and Lewis halls—which also house chemistry labs.
Siemens Healthineers—a spinoff of Siemens that focuses exclusively on healthcare equipment, solutions, and services—has begun construction on a £250 million ($314 million) facility in the United Kingdom to research and manufacture a breakthrough sustainable design for MRI superconducting magnets that reduces the need for helium from 1,500 liters (more than 396 gallons) to a single liter (just over a quart).
Texas A&M-Texarkana is planning to break ground in late May of 2024 on the Business, Engineering, and Technology Building (BET), a 53,500-sf facility housing those three interdisciplinary programs. The $45 million project also includes a renovation of the Science and Technology Building, which will connect to the new facility with walkways on the second and third floors.
Savannah River National Laboratory is constructing the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative (AMC) on the campus of the University of South Carolina Aiken. Designed by Page and STOA Architects, the $50 million facility will enable the Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management to engage in shared discovery with academic institutions, industry partners, and government agencies at the city, state, and federal level.
