Higher Education

Northwestern University recently opened the 40,000-sf Center for Nanofabrication and Molecular Self-Assembly in Evanston, Ill. The facility encompasses wet chemistry and complementing laboratories, shared microscope and laser facilities, offices, a seminar room, and other support spaces. The facility is the first federally and privately funded nanotechnology center in the country and will provide a scientific basis for technological advances in the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases and in monitoring the environmental factors that can cause illness.

Drexel University will partner with Swarthmore-based e4n-6 Corp., a computer forensics lab, and El Segundo, Calif.-base Aerospace Corp., a nonprofit defense research firm, to create the Institute for Advanced Forensic Engineering. Aerospace Corp. will provide access to its $140-million worth of computers and communications technologies, accommodating the Institute's research into advanced cyber- and physical forensics.

The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in La Jolla has launched the construction of the new Rebecca and John Moores UCSD Cancer Center, a 270,000-sf facility that will unite the Cancer Center's clinical, research, education, and outreach activities under one roof. Completion of the building, designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership of Los Angeles, is scheduled for 2004. The Cancer Center is one of only 40 in the United States to hold a National Cancer Institute designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The University of Alabama has awarded Holliston-based Wayne J. Griffin Electric the contract to perform all electrical, lighting, HVAC and safety services for renovations and a two-story addition at the new student recreation center in Tuscaloosa. Totalling 180,000 sf, the three-phase project will double the size of the existing facility, construct the addition and add a new gymnasium featuring four full basketball courts.

NASA's current 20-year plan for San Jose's Moffett Field involves creation of a research and development park including almost 2,000 residential units. U.C. Santa Cruz, San Jose State University, and DeAnza-Foothill Community College district may open satellite campuses in the park to accommodate nanotechnology, biotechnology and information sciences research.

California Lutheran University (CLU) in Thousand Oaks, Calif., has completed the new two-story, 24,000-sf Spies Bornemann Center for Education and Technology. Designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership of Los Angeles, the facility includes administrative office space, faculty offices, specialized instructional space, campus television production facilities, and various support functions.

The Smithsonian Institution recently held a topping-out celebration for the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington. The facility's structural concrete frame is now complete. Jones & Jones Architects & Landscape Architects is the design consultant for the museum.

Johnson & Wales University is planning a four-story, 145,000-sf academic center on its new Charlotte campus. Connecting the university's three colleges, the College of Culinary Arts, the College of Business, and the Hospitality College, the facility will be built by RogersDooley, a team of two local contractors.

The Smithsonian Institution will open the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles International Airport in December 2003. Contractor Hensel Phelps Construction of Greeley, Colo., began building the $309-million, 760,000-sf facility in June 2001. The facility will house 80% of the National Air and Space Museum collection not displayed at the National Mall location.

San Diego State University (SDSU) has selected Highland Partnership of San Diego as the design-build contractor for a $10.4-million, 60,000-sf classroom and office building. Construction of the four-story addition to SDSU's Gateway Center facility is expected to begin in December 2002. Construction manager for the project is O'Connor Construction.

Purdue   University is creating Envision, a high-performance visualization research center and showcase, on its West Lafayette, Ind. campus.  To be installed in the University’s former billiard hall, the facility will allow students and professors to view complex data. Technologies will include the latest in display technology, including 3D, high-resolution, and tiled displays, as well as virtual reality and haptics devices. Construction on the facility will begin early this winter with completion slated for summer of 2003.

Arcadia University in Glenside, Pa., has completed a 26,000-sf expansion of its Landeman Library, doubling the library's existing square footage. The facility is also undergoing a major renovation that will reach completion in 2003. The cost of both projects is estimated at $11 million.

The University of Albany and Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL) are planning to site a $300-million chip R&D facility at the University's Nanotech complex, comprised of NanoFab I and NanoFab II.  TEL and its partners will invest $200-million in the center, with the state of New York contributing over the next seven years $100-million in capital construction, equipment and specialized tools for research.

Tufts University recently dedicated the $65-million Jaharis Center for Biomedical and Nutrition Research Center, located next to Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. The 180,000-sf center will provide research facilities for the study of immunogenetics and genetic links between nutrition and disease.

Baylor University has selected McCarthy to build a four-level, precast concrete structure to house parking, office, and shell space.