Higher Education

The University of Pittsburgh is creating the John A. Swanson Center for Micro and Nano Systems with a gift of $1.4-million from the center's namesake. The center will be housed in the recently established four-laboratory John A. Swanson Institute for Technical Excellence, which will work in collaboration with the new center. The Center for Micro and Nano Systems will focus on applied research, giving companies and researchers access to technology, equipment and services for design, modeling and simulation, fabrication and systems integration.

The University of California, San Diego is planning to construct a new $50-million facility to house the Graduate Management School. The building is expected to open in autumn 2005.

Loomis Chaffee School has selected Boston-based William Rawn Associates Architects to design a new performing arts center and 18-classroom building in Windsor, Conn. The final design will be completed by year-end 2003 with construction slated to begin in 2004. The project is part of a $150-million campus initiative focused on theater, music, and dance programs.

Elon University is planning to construct the $12-million Ernest A. Koury Sr. Business Center on its Elon, N.C. campus. The three-story facility, slated to open in 2005, will house classrooms, a trading room, a digital multimedia theater, the school's MBA program, and the Elon Enterprise Academy.

North Carolina State University has broken ground on a $35-million, 100,000-sf research facility, the first structure of the Centennial Biomedical Campus at the College of Veterinary Medicine.

UC Berkeley began construction in March 2003 on the new $162.3-million Stanley Hall. Part of the California Institute for Quantitative Biomedical Research (QB3), the facility will provide 275,000 sf on eight floors above ground and three floors below ground. Replacing the existing Stanley Hall, the interdisciplinary facility will not belong to a single department but instead will bring together biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, and engineering researchers.

George Washington University is using $5-million in federal funds to create READI, the Response to Emergencies and Disasters Institute on its satellite campus in Loudoun County. The institute will train between 10,000 and 20,000 first responders annually, teaching firefighters, emergency management personnel, health care providers and law enforcement officers to respond in the event of a terrorist attack. Occupying up to half of the 100,000-sf former Psinet building, the center is expected to be operational in summer of 2003.

University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and research firm The Institute for Genomics Research  recently completed the creation of MdBioLab, a mobile bioscience lab designed for education at Maryland high schools. The facility contains lab and communications equipment and databases.

John F. Kennedy University is acquiring the 100,000-sf former Bank of America complex in Pleasant Hill, Calif., for its permanent campus location. The facility will house classrooms, administrative offices, and libraries for the university's five schools. The private accredited university plans to move to the new site in January 2004 and will continue to operate its Berkeley and Campbell campuses.

The University of California San Francisco will house its department of radiology in 50,000 sf of leased space at China Basin Landing near Mission Bay in San Francisco. The facility will include an imaging center as well as research and office space. UCSF is also planning to develop a $100-million cancer research facility on the 43-acre Mission Bay campus.

Saint Louis University will raise $45-million to build a new university arena in Midtown St. Louis. Hosting basketball games, commencement, cultural events, conferences and conventions, the proposed 12,000- to 13,000-seat area will also provide a venue for entertainment, sporting competitions and other events.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham has selected architectural firm Designform Inc. of Birmingham as lead designer for a 40,000-sf office facility and a 1,200-car parking structure to be built at the western campus entrance. The office facility, housing labs, classrooms, administrative offices, and the visitor's center, will feature a concave glass wall.

Rutgers University School of Business at Camden is working with the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology and the Delaware River Port Authority to create a non-profit business incubator in 20,000 sf of the former West Jersey Hospital in downtown Camden. The incubator is housed on the fifth floor of the five-building, 270,000-sf hospital complex. Former patient rooms were renovated to create 35 high-tech suites of 250 sf each which can be doubled to 500 sf.

North Carolina State University has selected Boney Architects of Wilmington, with an office in Raleigh, as project architect for the planned $9-million Friday Institute. The 32,000-sf educational research and teacher training center will be located next to the Centennial Campus Middle School in Raleigh. Groundbreaking is slated for early 2004.

Southwest Winners Foundation broke ground in early February on Southwest Preparatory School, the charter school's latest high school campus. Located on 3.5 acres, the two-story, 19,000-sf facility is expected to open in September 2003. The facility will also house administrative offices and the Virtual School, which allows students to gain high school credit via course work offered on the school's website.