Research and Development

The University of Melbourne is planning to construct the $100 million Victorian Life Sciences Computation Initiative Centre in the University’s Parkville Precinct in Melbourne, Australia. The facility will support high performance computing for life sciences research on diseases including cancer, influenza, and brain disorders by using large databases of genetic information. The facility will partner on research initiatives with the San Diego Supercomputer Center of the University of California, San Diego.

Virginia Tech is planning to construct a $90 million research center in the Ballston area of Arlington. Strategically located near the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the seven-story, 144,000-sf facility is slated for occupancy in late 2010. The center will house 250 faculty, staff, and graduate students engaged in bioinformatics, public health, and medical informatics research, as well as the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the Institute of Critical Technology and Applied Science.

The University of Minnesota opened the Medical Devices Center at the Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis on June 24, 2008. The $400,000 technology-rich facility will enable researchers to design, prototype, and test new medical devices. Housing a computer-aided precision design center, a fabrication facility, and a 3D surgical imaging suite, the Medical Devices Center is part of the University of Minnesota's Institute for Engineering in Medicine (IEM). The Institute will expand to a total of 50,000-sf of research and office space on three floors by 2011.

The Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory has selected M+W Zander to design its new nanotechnology center on the campus of the University of Minho in Braga, Portugal. The 230,000-sf project will feature Class 100 and 1000 cleanrooms and central characterization suites, including electron and scanning probe microscopy. The first phase of the project includes a nanotechnology research building and accommodations for visiting scientists. The second phase is comprised of a business incubator and a nanotechnology interpretive center.

The University of Central Florida College of Medicine initiated construction on a 168,000-sf instructional facility in Orlando in June of 2008. Housing classrooms, anatomy and simulation labs, and a medical library, the project is slated for completion in March of 2010. The building is sited adjacent to the 198,000-sf Burnett Biomedical Sciences building currently under construction. The Burnett Building, which will house research laboratories and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Institute, is expected to reach completion by May of 2009.

The University of Idaho’s Center for Advanced Energy Studies in Idaho Falls is slated for completion in August of 2008. The $19 million, 55,000-sf project is a public-private energy research and education facility and is affiliated with Idaho National Laboratory (INL).

Pacific Northwest National Lab broke ground on two research facilities in Richland, Wash., in June of 2008. The 73,000-sf Biological Sciences Facility will be connected to the 75,000-sf Computational Sciences Facility by a two-story atrium. The construction cost for the two buildings, which will house approximately 310 employees, is $75 million. The project team is comprised of KMD Architects of San Francisco and D.E. Harvey Builders of Houston.

Idaho National Laboratory has selected CH Construction to build the new $4 million Common Support Building (CSB) at the Advanced Test Reactor Complex west of Idaho Falls. Accommodating 80 employees, the 16,400-sf sustainably-designed facility will feature advanced HVAC and lighting systems.

Georgia Tech Research Institute initiated the second phase of construction at its Food Processing Technology Building in Atlanta in summer of 2008. The $3 million project will add 10,000-sf of laboratory, office, and R&D space to the existing $8 million, 35,000-square-foot facility.

Nicolaus Copernicus University has selected engineering consultants PM Group of Ireland to design its €8 million quantum physics research center in Torun, Poland. The 2,000-sm facility will include five technology-rich laboratories and is slated for completion by year-end 2010. The project will support quantum optics research with the goal of eliminating current obstacles to the creation of a quantum computer.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has selected Amana Contracting and Steel Buildings to build the Dhs85-million Takreer Research Center project at Sas El Nakhl in Abu Dhabi. Located at the Petroleum Institute Campus, the 6,000-sm, three-story facility will include laboratories, a pilot plant, workshops, a gas bunker, and offices. Completion is expected in June of 2009.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center celebrated the opening of the $110 million Medical Research Building IV in Nashville on June 17, 2008. The 200,000-sf facility houses 86 laboratory modules and is built atop two existing buildings. Three research floors are sited above Light Hall, with five research floors and two vivarium floors above the newly renovated $5.5 million, 1,106-seat Langford Auditorium. The project was designed by Don Blair and Associates with Davis Brody Architects.

Bristol University’s £11 million Centre for Nanoscience and Quantum Information is slated for completion in summer of 2008. Featuring laboratories with extremely low vibration, acoustic noise, and air movement, the £10.6 million, four-story project began construction in October of 2006. The project team includes architect Capita Percy Thomas, contractor Willmott Dixon, and project manager Capita Symonds.

Oklahoma State University opened the OSU Multispectral Laboratories in Ponca City in early June of 2008. The 70,000-sf lab is owned by the University and was created in partnership with ConocoPhillips and the city of Ponca City. The $14 million facility is operated by Triton Scientific and will support the development of sensors and security technologies. The project represents the completion of the first phase of renovations to Research East, a building donated to OSU by ConocoPhillips.

The University of Waterloo broke ground on the $160 million Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre (QNC) in June of 2008. Uniting research and engineering in quantum information technology and nanotechnology, the five-story facility will house the Institute for Quantum Computing, the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, and undergraduate nanotechnology engineering instruction. The 280,000-sf interdisciplinary facility will include faculty offices, two atria, teaching and research labs, seminar rooms, a 10,000-sf fabrication cleanroom, and a metrology suite.