Industry News

Mississippi State University dedicated its new 40,000-sf agricultural and biological engineering building in Starkville on November 10, 2007. The three-story plus basement facility houses classrooms, offices, and research laboratories and replaces the 1950s-era Howell Engineering Building. The construction cost of the facility was $11 million. 

Microsoft opened Building 99 in Redmond, Wash. in November of 2007. Featuring flexible floor plans for optimal workplace customization, the new Microsoft Research headquarters can be adapted to accommodate changes in business groups. The facility houses individual offices, spaces with open floor plans, and alternative workspaces with removable walls. The building also includes a large atrium, meeting rooms, and places for spontaneous employee interaction. The new four-story facility is the first to open as part of a larger campus expansion and redevelopment plan.

The University of Notre Dame broke ground in November of 2007 on the $69.4 million Stinson-Remick Hall of Engineering in Notre Dame, Ind. The 142,000-sf facility will house a nanotechnology research center, an energy center, an 11,800-sf semiconductor processing and device fabrication cleanroom, and an undergraduate learning center. Designed to enhance interdisciplinary research, the project is slated for completion by late 2009.

The U.S. Army has contracted Honeywell to implement an energy-efficiency program at Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C. Funded by a $5-million performance contract for capital improvements, as well as $1.6 million in services for the next 20 years, the project will improve facility infrastructure and demonstrate the U.S. Army’s support of LEED principles. It is estimated that nearly $2 million in utility and operating costs will be saved per year.

Charles River Laboratories opened a 450,000-sf preclinical research center in Reno, Calif., in fall of 2007. Sited in Truckee Meadows, the BSL-2 facility is among the five largest animal testing laboratories in the country and accommodates drug research on rodents, dogs, and monkeys. Charles River invested $107 million to renovate the facility, not including laboratory equipment. The first floor houses a large chemical laboratory and the 50,000-sf second floor houses animal research. The center employs 400 staff members with a projected 900 employees in a few years.