Research Facilities 2025 Schedule

What you will learn: This course covers the basic elements of laboratory planning and facility design – upfront laboratory planning, laboratory programming, lab design, building design, and MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) system components. Participants will come away with a basic understanding of the terminology, concepts, processes, standards, numbers, types of scientific equipment, and furniture (as applicable) involved in laboratory planning and design. The course also serves as primer for the two-day conference that follows and will be highly interactive with Q&A throughout.

Who should attend: This one-day course is open to all who have interest in lab planning and design: project managers, facility planners and managers, lab managers, architects, engineers, construction engineers, researchers, and scientists employed at colleges and universities, hospital and healthcare facilities, pharmaceuticals, government labs, and A/E/C firms.

Space is limited and enrollment is subject to approval.

Cost:
$1,300 Fundamentals Course only
$1,100 with registration to two-day conference immediately following

(Fees include course materials, continental breakfast, refreshment breaks, lunch)

A hosted beer and wine bar along with light snacks will be served.

Attendees may sign-in and pick up their registration materials here, or the next morning at the conference ballroom foyer.

Guests welcome.

See the full list of participating exhibitors and event hosts.

What current opportunities and impending risks are being presented by artificial intelligence, and how does our thinking need to evolve to maximize the benefits of technology and humans co-existing in physical space? In this thought-provoking session, James Villarrubia charts the skyrocketing adoption and influence of new technologies including generative AI, the transformational effects on the workforce, and where we are today on harnessing technology advances for productivity, efficiency, and social change. He sets out key questions that need to be addressed by organizational and institutional leaders to effectively shape processes, governance and culture.

Refinements to resource governance models and standards are improving the quality and efficiency of laboratory and research spaces at The Ohio State University, while paving the way for strategic demolition and redevelopment initiatives. Courtney Mankowski sets out the latest metrics for labs, lab support, office and collaboration spaces, and core facilities, including how those metrics have been developed, interpreted, and rolled out. She illustrates the results to-date in terms of densification, relocations, and productive collaboration, and the enterprise opportunities being unlocked including creation of a new innovation district.

News flash: Recent study data shows nearly half of lab workers identify as neurodivergent. How should that be informing decisions on scientific space design -- which has historically been sterile and sensory-intensive? Kay Sargent and Tim O’Connell illustrate the need for neuroinclusive design for all lab workers to enhance focus, innovation, and well-being. They illustrate what can be done in new construction and renovations to deliver environments supporting diverse cognitive styles and fostering creativity, productivity, and worker retention/recruitment for the next generation of scientific innovators. 

The rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will significantly reshape research practices and places – start preparing now! This session presents findings from a think tank including SmithGroup’s Science, Technology, and Climate Impact teams, national AI experts and research leaders and a client advisor, James Villarrubia, CTO/Applied AI Expert/NASA Presidential Fellow. Session leaders highlight critical issues identified and new concepts for the next generation of research spaces, and the clean energy infrastructure needed to support them. They illustrate the spatial implications of humanoid robots, the integration of humans and technology in research environments, the impact of computing on the energy grid, and the potential of data centers as energy generators. 

What should owners budget for cost escalation in 2025 and beyond as the Federal Reserve continues to reduce interest rates? What pricing structure should be used to accurately estimate costs for your research projects? Attend this session to get better pricing and more accurate budget figures, and better understand construction cost drivers for different research facilities. The Vermeulens team delivers up-to-date construction cost forecasts based on economic conditions, job creation and cost data from more than 200 projects. Using analyses of equities, GDP, construction labor markets and their national construction weather map, they illustrate regional construction pricing targets for the next two years and demonstrate bid and purchasing strategies that lock in costs and reduce risk. 

Pressure is increasing to expand research groups without enlarging building footprints or requiring significant infrastructure modifications. This session tests the limits of what can be accomplished and how, including pursuit of new collaborative research paradigms, the decommissioning of outdated facilities, and the consolidation from multiple separate facilities to just a few or even one. Edwin Hargrave identifies planning process headwinds to expect surrounding accommodating research groups equitably in a fixed-resource context. He charts database-driven area standards for lab spaces, lays out alternative space allocation metrics, and highlights shared resource opportunities.

Reception hosted by Siemens

(Guests welcome)

Courtesy of Tradeline

This session delivers data-driven insights for solving the pressing problems research organizations are facing: Outdated facilities, underutilized space, high investment for low return, and meeting regulatory and compliance requirements. Session leaders demonstrate the analysis processes that identify opportunities and drive smarter decisions for moving forward, inspiring innovative planning and operational solutions, and unlocking the potential of both new facilities or renovations. They illustrate methods for overcoming data challenges, mining and synthesizing large data sets, visualizing and planning scenarios for the future, and implementing long term facility data management systems.

Environments for discovery, whether at a University, Government Agency, or in Corporate R&D, must be nimble enough to adapt when thinking and research changes direction, or when new equipment or methodologies develop. The divergent lab is one that anticipates and adapts as needs change, supporting research by establishing a framework for the greatest variety of research directions while anticipating future demands as researchers continue to discover. Through case studies from Walker Chemical and Michigan Technological University, presenters set out strategies for ensuring continuity of forward-thinking culture and brand in labs and throughout the building. They provide renovation and new construction examples of adaptable planning, resiliency, wellness, and cultural development.

The Altec/Styslinger Genomic Medicine and Data Sciences Building is a 165K gross square feet renovation/addition that centralizes dry lab space, increases UAB’s research capacity, and is a key component of the Heersink School of Medicine space master plan spawning an additional 40+ projects to maximize space utilization. Kevin Bell sets out the science drivers and assumptions underpinning this large-scale renovation project, and how those translated into planning metrics, lab configurations, and infrastructure for a variety of cutting-edge dry lab phenotypes and support spaces. He distills lessons learned from precursor projects that were incorporated into the design, highlights special facility accommodations for certain research groups, and identifies hurdles and solutions for relocation and renovation challenges.

What should owners budget for cost escalation in 2025 and beyond as the Federal Reserve continues to reduce interest rates? What pricing structure should be used to accurately estimate costs for your research projects? Attend this session to get better pricing and more accurate budget figures, and better understand construction cost drivers for different research facilities. The Vermeulens team delivers up-to-date construction cost forecasts based on economic conditions, job creation and cost data from more than 200 projects. Using analyses of equities, GDP, construction labor markets and their national construction weather map, they illustrate regional construction pricing targets for the next two years and demonstrate bid and purchasing strategies that lock in costs and reduce risk. 

News flash: Recent study data shows nearly half of lab workers identify as neurodivergent. How should that be informing decisions on scientific space design -- which has historically been sterile and sensory-intensive? Kay Sargent and Tim O’Connell illustrate the need for neuroinclusive design for all lab workers to enhance focus, innovation, and well-being. They illustrate what can be done in new construction and renovations to deliver environments supporting diverse cognitive styles and fostering creativity, productivity, and worker retention/recruitment for the next generation of scientific innovators. 

This end-of-day session is where key ideas, new developments, and findings that have been revealed over the course of the entire two-day conference (including sessions you may have missed) get clarified, expanded upon, and affirmed or debated. This is also the opportunity to get answers from industry leaders and the entire audience to specific questions on key and challenging issues.