Intel is investing $3 billion to renovate its chip fabrication facilities in Chandler, Ariz. The project will combine two buildings, Fab 22 and Fab 32, to create an upgraded facility for the manufacture of 32-nanometer chips. The project is expected to reach completion by year-end 2010.
St. Cloud State University opened the $15 million Robert H. Wick Science Building in St. Cloud, Minn., in January of 2009. The 36,000-sf addition houses classrooms and laboratories for chemistry and biology. Labs feature individual fume foods and distilled water at each bench. The Wick Science Building supports research in areas including immunology, genetics, cancer, and water toxicology. Additionally, St. Cloud State began construction in January of 2009 on a $15 million, 75,000-sf renovation of Brown Hall to provide instruction in nursing, communication, and physics.
Roche is constructing a new pharmaceutical R&D facility in Basel, Switzerland. Designed by Herzog & de Meuron, Building 97 represents an investment of 250 million Swiss francs and is comprised of two wings reaching five and nine stories high with three basement floors. Building 97 will support 100 researchers. Construction began in August of 2008 with completion expected in the third quarter of 2011.
Rice University will initiate construction in 2009 on the 111,000-sf Brockman Hall for Physics in Houston. Housing vibration- and noise- controlled laboratories, the facility will support research in fundamental and applied physics. The building will be sited adjacent to George R. Brown Hall in the new Science Quadrangle and is slated for completion in December of 2010. Housing advanced instrumentation for precision measurement, the project will consolidate research faculty currently housed in five separate locations.
Many universities are leveraging current economic challenges to recruit highly skilled faculty and researchers. Northeastern University in Boston is engaged in a search for 46 professors in a wide range of disciplines, and Tufts University seeks to fill 52 faculty positions. Other institutions, including Amherst, Holy Cross, and Emerson, have created new teaching jobs.
The University of Massachusetts completed the $92 million Integrated Sciences Building in January of 2009. Supporting instruction in chemistry, biology, and animal science, the four-story, 155,000-gsf facility includes teaching and research laboratories, a 300-seat auditorium, interaction areas, and advanced imaging facilities. The building will promote interdisciplinary teaching and research by integrating the life, chemical, and physical sciences.
Bayer MaterialScience initiated construction in January of 2009 on a €22 million carbon nanotube manufacturing plant at its headquarters in Leverkusen, Germany. The catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD) plant will be the largest facility of its kind worldwide and is slated for completion in summer of 2009. The project will have a production capacity of 200 tons per year.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) began construction on a 120,000-sf laboratory in Boulder, Colo., in early February of 2009. Providing 58,000 net assignable square feet laboratory space, the facility represents an expansion of NIST’s existing Boulder campus and will support research in areas including precision measurement, nanotechnology, biochemical sensors, and quantum computing. The project architect is HDR with PCL Construction as general contractor. Completion is expected in 2012.
Pennsylvania State University is planning to construct a BSL-3 laboratory on its University Park campus. The 15,000-sf facility will support biodefense, agricultural, and zoonotic research, enabling the university to compete for federal funding supporting select agent and infectious disease research. Penn State operates an existing BSL-2 research laboratory.
The University of Rhode Island opened the $60 million Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences (CBLS) in Kingston in January of 2009. The 140,000-sf facility broke ground in March 2007 and includes classrooms, teaching and research laboratories, faculty offices, a business incubator, a 300-seat auditorium, and support areas for DNA sequencing. The CBLS features a four-story atrium that connects a research wing and a teaching wing. LEED Silver sustainable design certification will be sought for the facility.
Texas Tech completed a $10 million renovation of the College of Engineering Livermore Auditorium in Lubbock, Texas, in January of 2009. Located in the Chemical Engineering building, the facility houses new research laboratories, offices, and two classrooms accommodating 100 and 155 students. Construction began on the project in June of 2007.
The Department of Energy is planning a $1 billion expansion of the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. A second target station will be constructed at the pulsed neutron scattering facility with completion slated for 2020. The project will support materials science and microscale biological research.
The University of Massachusetts, Lowell is planning to construct the $100 million Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center (ETIC). Designed by CUH2A, the 100,000-sf project will house academic instruction, bio- and nano-manufacturing space, R&D laboratories, and a business incubator. LEED Silver certification for sustainable design will be sought for the facility.
Louisiana State University's Pennington Biomedical Research Center broke ground in January of 2009 on the $18.2 million Clinical Research Building in Baton Rouge, La. The 90,000-sf, four-story facility will support translational research for disease treatment and prevention. The project contractor is Milton J. Womack of Baton Rouge. Completion is expected in July of 2010.
The University of Adelaide is building a $103 million engineering facility on its North Terrace Campus in Adelaide, South Australia. The nine-story building is expected to reach completion in 2010. The project contractor is Hindmarsh Construction. The sustainably-designed facility will feature advanced building performance monitoring equipment. Additionally, the University will begin construction in July of 2009 on the $31 million Centre of Photonics to support optical fibre and lasers research. Completion is expected in three years.
