Higher Education

George Mason University broke ground on Sept. 25, 2007 on its Biomedical Research Laboratory on the Prince William campus in Manassas, Va. The $42 million facility is one of 13 Regional Biocontainment Laboratories (RBL) and was funded in part by a $25 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The 53,000-sf facility will house BSL-3 laboratories for biological threat and infectious disease research and will be operated by the National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases (NCBID) at George Mason University.

The University of Pittsburgh opened the $28 million Center for Vaccine Research (CVR) in late September of 2007. Located on the eighth and ninth floors of the 330,000-sf Biomedical Science Tower 3, the CVR is comprised of two facilities, the NIAID-funded Regional Biocontainment Laboratory (RBL) and the Vaccine Research Laboratory (VRL). The 27,300-sf RBL contains BSL-3 laboratories for infectious disease research.

Colorado State University officially broke ground on its new Computer Science building Fort Collins. on Sept. 21, 2007. The four story, 45,000-sf facility will house laboratories for information technology and computer science research. The three laboratories on the ground floor include a student personal computer lab, a Linux lab, and a teaching lab. The facility was designed by Anderson Mason Dale. Project cost including equipment and furniture is $14 million. Occupancy is slated for fall of 2008.

The University of Tennessee initiated construction on the $37.5 million Min Kao Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building in Knoxville in fall of 2007. The 155,000-sf state-of-the-art facility will house laboratories, classrooms, a cleanroom, and a 2,500-sf auditorium. Ground was broken on the project in May of 2007 and completion is slated for 2009. The facility was designed by Bullock, Smith & Partners with Lindsay and Maples Architects.

The NIH’s National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) has selected Weill Cornell Medical College to establish the Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC) in New York. The CTSC, a biomedical research collaboration between partnering institutions, will foster translational research on patient treatment and preventive interventions.

The North Carolina Community College System dedicated the BioNetwork Capstone Center in September of 2007. The biopharmaceutical training facility is located in the 82,500-sf Golden LEAF BTEC building on NCSU’s Centennial campus in Raleigh. The BioNetwork Capstone Center will train second-year biotechnology community college students as well as providing continuing education to industry employees.

The University of Maryland, College Park dedicated the 134,000-gsf Bioscience Research Building on Sept. 18, 2007. The $69 million laboratory and teaching facility contains 35 labs and accommodates approximately 30 researchers in the disciplines of pathology, neuroscience, and genomics. The building also houses two BSL-3 containment labs and the Maryland Pathogen Research Institute for the study of infectious diseases. The project began construction in 2004.

Harvard University began construction in fall of 2007 on a four-building, 537,000-sf science center in the Allston area of Boston. Designed as a model of sustainability, the level of greenhouse gasses emitted from the complex will be 50 percent below national standards. The building systems installed to meet the lower emission levels will reduce facility operating costs and decrease fuel consumption. Completion is slated for 2011.

Pittsburgh State University has received $2.8 million from the Kansas Legislature to pay for deferred maintenance. The funding is the first installment of over $10 million that the University will receive from the state to deal with deferred maintenance issues. PSU’s deferred maintenance cost was estimated at time of legislature investigation at $58 million.

The National Institutes of Health has awarded the University of Wisconsin-Madison $41 million over five years to support research at UW's Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. The funding, a Clinical and Translational Science Award, is one of the largest ever received by the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. The award will support the application of biomedical research to clinical treatment.

Wayne State University broke ground on the $30 million, 53,000-sf Mazurek Medical Education Commons in Detroit on September 17, 2007. Serving as the center of the college’s School of Medicine, the building will house a clinical skills center and laboratory, computer labs, a testing center, and a café. The facility will connect two existing structures, Scott Hall and the Shiffman Medical Library.

The University of South Florida opened the $25-million Johnnie B. Byrd, Sr., Alzheimer's Center & Research Institute in Tampa on Sept. 15, 2007. Designed by HDR Architecture, the 108,000-sf, seven-story building is the only free-standing Alzheimer’s research facility in the world. The center is sited on 2.6 acres and houses flexible research laboratories for 8 scientific teams, a clinic, an imaging center, offices, and a vivarium. The design of the tower includes future construction of a wing extending east and north.

Western Michigan University (WMU) dedicated the area’s first direct grid connected wind turbine at the College of Engineering & Applied Science in Kalamazoo on Sept. 14, 2007. The turbine, installed by the engineering college, WMU's Physical Plant, and project contractor Bauer Power, currently provides two kilowatts of power and will be upgraded to provide five kilowatts during the next few years.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison opened the 330,000-sf Microbial Sciences Building on Sept. 14, 2007. Housing the departments of Bacteriology, Food Microbiology & Toxicology, Medical Microbiology & Immunology, and the Food Research Institute, the six-story facility features two atria to foster interaction and collaboration among an estimated 500 researchers. Designed by Plunkett Raysich Architects in Milwaukee with support from CO Architects of Los Angeles, the facility was built by general contractor C.D.

The University of Oklahoma broke ground in September of 2007 on the $7.5 million Cancer Institute and Harold Hamm Oklahoma Diabetes Center in Tulsa. Housing research, diagnosis, treatment, and education, the 23,000-sf facility is slated for completion in January of 2009.