The University of Oklahoma Health Center is under construction in Oklahoma City. Five projects totaling $534 million are under way on the 325-acre campus. New construction includes the OU Children’s Physician Building and the Cancer Institute. Additions are being built to the existing Oklahoma Blood Institute, the Dean A. McGee Eye Institute, and the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation facilities.
Yongye International, a maker of plant and animal nutrient products, has completed an expansion of its R&D center in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China. The project included construction of six greenhouses totaling 6,000-sm and creation of an open testing field. The expansion will support development of crop nutrients based on fulvic acid.
The University of California, Los Angeles is building the 175,000-sf Life Sciences Building on its Westwood campus. Replacing the existing life sciences facility, the $155 million building will house the Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology; the Department of Physiological Science; and the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Comprised of two separate five-story wings connected by a basement, the facility will provide wet and dry research labs, a plant growth lab, and vivarium space. LEED Silver sustainable design certification will be sought for the facility.
Marshall University is planning to construct the $50 million Applied Science Center in Huntington, W.V. The 140,000-sf facility will house the College of Information Technology and Engineering, the departments of mathematics and computational sciences, a modeling and digital imaging resource facility, and engineering and bioengineering research labs. Occupancy is expected in 2012.
The international Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has released three new reports on the safety of engineered nanomaterials.
The University of Waterloo broke ground on the $9 million Summit Centre for the Environment in Huntsville, Ontario, in August of 2009. The 30,000-sf research facility will support environmental science and ecology with laboratories, classrooms, seminar rooms, and dormitories. Completion is expected by fall of 2010.
The Department of Agriculture announced in June of 2009 that it will provide $176 million in funding for renovations, repairs, and maintenance at 36 laboratory facilities. The funding has been allocated from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The University of Colorado dedicated the $56 million Science and Engineering Building in Colorado Springs in August of 2009. The 156,000-sf facility houses 53 research labs, 32 teaching labs, and 11 classrooms. The sustainably designed building houses the departments of biology, physics, and mechanical and aerospace engineering, as well as the National Institute for Science, Space, and Security Centers, and the CU Institute for Bioenergetics. Ground was broken for the project in 2006.
Medicago is partnering with Genepole to construct a flu vaccine manufacturing facility in Evry, France. The facility will utilize Medicago’s plant-based vaccine production technology. Construction of the facility will commence pending successful phase one clinical trials of an H5N1 vaccine.
Cord Blood America began building a 17,000-sf laboratory in Las Vegas in August of 2009. The facility will provide stem cell storage, processing, testing, and cryogenic storage when it opens by year-end 2009. A second construction phase will include expanded cryogenic facilities and a research laboratory.
The University of California, Berkeley is planning to construct the $112.9 million Computational Research and Theory Facility. The 126,300-gsf project will house the Department of Energy’s National Energy Research Scientific Computing (NERSC) Center. Providing 73,000-asf, the facility will house a 32,000-sf high performance computing floor and offices for NERSC and university researchers.
Lockheed Martin broke ground on a $24 million expansion of its Newton, Pa., campus in August of 2009. A 17,000-sf addition to the Product Team Building will house expanded manufacturing operations for satellites. The second project, a 15,000-sf conference facility, will accommodate up to 250 people. Both facilities will be built to attain LEED sustainable design certification. The Newton campus is the headquarters of Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems (LMCSS).
The University of California is funding construction of research facilities by loaning the State of California $199.8 million, to be paid back over three years at 3.2 percent interest. The state will then allocate the money to the University of California to support construction on voter-approved projects.
The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration is planning to construct a new research base in Newport, Ore. The $35 million waterfront facility will house laboratories, offices, warehouses, a pier, and a boat dock. Occupancy is expected in July of 2011.
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill., was awarded $60 million in funding in August of 2009 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. $52.7 million will support research and development of advanced particle accelerator technologies and $7.5 million will support collaborative neutrino research with Brookhaven National Lab. The award is the second round of stimulus funding the lab has received, as $34.9 million was awarded to Fermilab in March of 2009.
