Industry News

Radio equipment and cellular phone manufacturer Motorola will spend $90-million to construct a research and development operation in Beijing.

The University of Dayton began construction on a $20-million campus residence hall in May 2003. Housing up to 400 first and second year students, the 160,000-sf facility will also accommodate conference rooms, classrooms, a free-standing chapel and a food emporium. Operations to be relocated to the facility include the bookstore, campus ministry offices, credit union, and post office. The four-story project is slated to open in August 2004. Miller-Valentine Group is the general contractor and one of the project architects is Edge and Tinney Architects.

SUNY Albany is planning to create a photomask consortium at Albany NanoTech’s Center for Excellence in Nanoelectronics. The center would cost approximately $200-million, funded by $150-million from the consortium and $50-million in government funding.

Saint Louis University has selected Alberici Constructors to head a team to design and build a 13,000-seat arena in Midtown. The project team includes architectural firm Mackey Mitchell Associates and Sink Combs Dethlefs, a sports architectural firm. Estimated to cost approximately $70-million, the facility will host campus, sporting, cultural, and convention events.

The National Atomic Museum in Albuquerque is planning a new 40,000-sf facility and exhibition area in the city’s Balloon Fiesta Park. Showcasing nuclear technology exhibits, the Smithsonian Affiliate museum will be renamed the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History when it reopens in 2006. The Department of Energy recently awarded the museum $2.5-million in initial funding towards the museum’s capital campaign of $18 million for the new facility. The museum is operated by Sandia National Laboratories and owned by the Department of Energy.