Industry News

Rolls-Royce opened its $170 million Crosspointe aerospace manufacturing facility in April of 2011 in Prince George County, Va. Sited on over 1,000 acres, the 180,000-sf facility houses production, assembly, and testing space for engine components. The project was designed and built by Haskell and features rainwater harvesting, light sensors, and ceiling panels for maximum daylighting. Ground was broken on the project in October of 2009.

Ceva Animal Health opened its $18 million poultry vaccine production plant in May of 2011. Located in Lenexa, Kansas, the 55,000-sf facility will support manufacturing of both standard and vector vaccines with advanced automated systems and technologies.

Bioniche Life Sciences opened the Animal Health and Food Safety Vaccine Manufacturing Centre in April of 2011 in Belleville, Ontario. The livestock vaccine manufacturing facility has a fermentation capacity of up to 5,000 liters as well as downstream processing. The center will support rapid scale-up for commercial production.

The University of Kansas is building the $18.8 million Measurement, Materials and Sustainable Environment Center (M2SEC) in Lawrence. The 36,690-sf facility will provide the School of Engineering with laboratories for the study of biofuels, sustainable construction technologies, and materials science. Low-vibration laboratories constructed on an isolated slab will support research on unmanned aircraft, engines, and wireless communication.

Dalhousie University will begin construction in spring of 2011 on the $30 million Oceans Excellence Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The 68,000-sf facility will be built as an addition to the Life Sciences Centre and will house offices, research space, and portable laboratories constructed from shipping containers, enabling investigators to use the same labs while out at sea. The building will also provide research space for the Aquatron and the Ocean Tracking Network. LEED Gold sustainable design certification will be sought for the project.