Research and Development

Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) officially opened its $4 million R&D facility in Crane, Ind., in March of 2009. Located on a former brownfield site in the WestGate at Crane Technology Park, the 37,800-sf building features laboratories for optics, high power lasers, rapid prototyping and development, and 4,000-sf of secure electronic warfare systems R&D space. The facility will house 200 employees for the SAIC Warfare Systems and Integration Solutions Operation.

Bristol-Myers Squibb opened its 20,000-sf research and development facility in Bangalore, India, in March of 2009. Located in Biocon Park, the project will house 270 researchers engaged in pharmaceutical discovery and drug development. Construction began on the project in March of 2007.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory will break ground in late spring of 2009 on a chemical and materials sciences research building in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Supported by funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the 160,000-sf facility will house 200 researchers engaged in the creation of solar batteries, corrosion resistant materials, and superconducting transmission lines. LEED certification for sustainable design will be sought for the project. Completion is slated for 2011.

Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility will begin construction in spring of 2009 on a $310 million upgrade of its Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) in Newport News, Va. The nuclear physics research project will include construction of a fourth experimental hall and a 250-foot extension of the lab's underground accelerator tunnel. Completion is expected in 2015.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute is partnering with the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa, to construct a $20 million HIV and tuberculosis research facility. Integrated with the Doris Duke Medical Research Institute at Nelson Mandela Medical School, the six-story facility will include two floors of high level biocontainment laboratories.

The Canadian Light Source is planning to construct two research facilities in Saskatoon. The Quantum Materials Spectroscopy Centre (QMSC) and the BioXAS Beamline Facility will benefit from $3.8 million in funding from Western Economic Diversification Canada. The QMSC will house a beamline for materials science research and will be operated by the University of British Columbia.

The Medical University of South Carolina began construction on a 28,000-sf biomedical research facility in Charleston in March of 2009. The $5.5 million Innovation Center project involves renovation of an existing warehouse facility to create a 28,000-sf business incubator housing technology-rich research labs and offices. Completion is expected in November of 2009. The project is created in collaboration with the South Carolina Research Authority and the city of Charleston.

Louisiana Cancer Research Center initiated construction in early 2009 on a $100 million research facility in New Orleans. Created by a partnership of Tulane University Health Sciences Center and Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, the 250,000-sf project is sited on two acres between the collaborating institutions. The facility was designed by RMJM Hillier with Brice Building Company as general contractor. Completion is expected in August of 2011.

The FY 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act was signed into law by President Barrack Obama on March 11, 2009. The bill, H.R. 1105, will provide the National Institutes of Health with a total of $30.3 billion for federal year 2009, $937.5 million more than fiscal year 2008. The funding represents an increase of approximately 3.2 percent and will allow the NIH to allocate funding for new research grants.

LG Group completed construction of its $182.7 million research and development center in March of 2009 in Seoul, Korea. The duration of construction was three years. The facility will support R&D in digital convergence technologies, software and design of mobile phones, televisions, and optical storage products. The 25-story building will accommodate 3,000 employees.

Wright State University’s Matthew O. Diggs III Laboratory for Life Science Research was awarded LEED Gold sustainable design certification in March of 2009. Located in Fairborn, Ohio, the 48,000-sf facility utilizes 40 percent less energy than a standard laboratory and features a white roof for heat deflection, irrigation-free landscaping, waterless urinals and low-flow plumbing fixtures, highly efficient HVAC systems with heat recovery, and low-VOC interior finishes. The $15 million facility was completed in November of 2007.

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine opened the $45 million Anne and Mike Armstrong Medical Education Building in Baltimore in early 2009. The four-story, 100,000-sf project broke ground in September of 2006 and houses a 70-person learning studio, two 180-seat lecture halls, classrooms, flexible laboratories, offices, and study areas. The facility will support the School of Medicine’s new Genes to Society curriculum, which centers on advances in human genome research.

UC Santa Cruz is partnering with Foothill-De Anza Community College and NASA Ames Research Center to create a $1 billion research and education campus at Moffett Field in Mountain View, Calif. The project will support research on energy, sustainable technologies, and advanced computing. The campus will include classrooms, research labs, a business incubator, and housing. Construction is expected begin between 2012 and 2014. The facilities will be sustainably designed and will feature solar and wind power and water reclamation.

The University of Tennessee began site work for the Joint Institute for Advanced Materials in Knoxville in March of 2009. Construction will begin the following autumn on the facility which is supported by $20 million in federal funds and $10 million in state funds. Completion is expected in August of 2011. The project is part of the Cherokee Farm development, a 188-acre interdisciplinary research campus created to foster collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and industry partners.

The Canadian government allocated up to $2 billion in its 2009 budget to repair, retrofit, and expand facilities at post-secondary institutions. The funding represents a strategic investment in knowledge infrastructure.