University Science & Engineering Facilities 2024 Sessions

To successfully compete for students and faculty, higher ed is engaged in an "arms race" of facilities enhancements which foster collaboration and cross-disciplinary convergence, student-centered experiential learning, and allow for extended learning opportunities with real-world applications.  In this session, the RFD team leverages their extensive experience to distill the latest trends and planning solutions for next-generation applied science and engineering facilities. They identify critical decisions to make and pitfalls to avoid when incorporating the complex systems inherent to these facilities. Don't miss this opportunity to gain insights from recent projects across North America and dive deep into three compelling case studies. 

The skyrocketing influence of artificial intelligence and the digital transformation of the business world are driving explosive growth in computer science programs -- nearly 15% by 2030. What spaces and infrastructure should institutions be putting in place now to successfully compete for top faculty, students, and funding? Using the recent renovation/addition of an interdisciplinary computational research and education hub, session leaders provide insights into the functions of computer science departments and which activities are most prevalent and demanding for research and teaching groups. They set out best practices for implementing high-performance computing (HPC) data centers, identifying sustainability opportunities, and planning for the future.

Colleges and universities with high growth programs are having to accommodate additional students with limited facility expansion, leading to tremendous pressure on existing spaces and college resources. Here you’ll see the space use efficiency steps University of Colorado Boulder is taking to prepare for 20-40% enrollment growth in the College of Engineering and Applied Science over the next 5- to 7-years. Session leaders examine the results of a study on existing hands-on learning and project activity spaces, and opportunities identified to increase effective space use, improve student experience, and reprioritize future projects. They illustrate national trends on university enrollment and space use, highlight challenges to be aware of when repurposing spaces, and developing a roadmap for the future.

Institutions are scrambling to create a pipeline of undergrads, masters, and PhDs for an AI-fueled computing - data - tech revolution workforce. Here you’ll see the space needs required to support collaborative ecosystems of innovation and bring together academics, industry, government, and surrounding communities. Session leaders highlight novel facility and operational planning processes that minimize the effects of construction lag times on rapidly-changing programs and stakeholder groups. They examine five university projects with audacious goals that are rethinking traditional science and engineering building molds and creating more nimble and future-facing spaces.

Over the last decade The University of Maryland has transformed a campus precinct into a vibrant, STEM district with facility initiatives that foster interdisciplinary convergence. Core to this transformation and realization are three STEM buildings for bioengineering building, interdisciplinary chemistry, and integrated engineering. Session leaders chart the rapid iteration of solutions for inspiring innovation, incorporating robust practical infrastructure to anticipate continual change, and achieving carbon neutrality cost-effectively. They illustrate a framework for using facilities to establish innovation communities, how complementary facility planning nurtures interdisciplinary connections and strengthens the overall campus experience, and how future facilities will carry the advances forward.

Strength in Advanced Manufacturing (AM) is critical to the US economy and national security, but less understood is the ecosystem of education and research foundational to AM innovation, and the facilities required to support this ecosystem. Presenters examine the planning and design of AM facilities in the context of the web of interrelationships between workforce skills training for AM, integration of AM in engineering education, and applied AM research. They illustrate facility solutions developed for multiple institutions with unique combinations of high-bay AM space, prototyping and testing resources for industry and academia, workforce training areas, multi-disciplinary research labs, and more.

Over the last two decades, Oregon State University's College of Engineering (COE) has grown to almost 12,000 students, and with that growth, the academic master planning process has similarly undergone dramatic, positive changes. Session leaders illustrate how OSU's "Engineering Next" master plan for the College of Engineering provides a focused, clear, concise, and flexible framework for practical near-term facility improvements with outsized impact on mission resulting in planning that is faster, more affordable, and more impactful. They demonstrate how shorter process schedules can lead to more focused and impactful planning, and how the process increased research capacity by 25% within existing buildings while accelerating the schedule by three years. 

Mounting pressure on construction costs will impact all science and technology facility projects on the drawing boards, both new construction and renovations. Attend this session to get better pricing and more accurate budget figures, and better understand construction cost drivers for different science and technology facilities. The Vermeulens team delivers up-to-date construction cost forecasts based on economic conditions, job creation and cost data from more than 100 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. 

The “institute” model of coalescing talent, funding, space, and disciplines can accelerate interdisciplinary convergent research and advance discoveries to solve the world's greatest challenges. This session delivers the organizational and physical best practices to make it happen. Session leaders identify key process elements in creating the Institute for Integrative and Innovative Research at University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, from engaging the right partners and anticipating and navigating layers of governance, to programming the space types required for complex research missions. They examine project examples, highlight potential challenges, and distill success factors for creating culture, designing space for unknown faculty, and facilitating economic development. 

How does the experience in your science and engineering facilities factor into the bigger picture of funding and effective research? Are you effectively telling the story of the programs and research you’re producing? Grace Johnson at Advent (an experience design firm) guides attendees through a step-by-step plan to tell your institution’s story in your spaces in a way that moves audiences and persuades them to action -- whether that action is enrollment, internal collaboration, industry partnerships, or external funding. She profiles case studies of high-ROI storytelling technology implementations that are forging connections with stakeholders and creating a competitive advantage. 

Interprofessional Education and Practice (IPE) at Ball State University has been extended to health and hard science disciplines, redefining how students learn and practice in their profession and giving rise to a whole new academic science quadrangle defined by a 165,000-sf Health Professions Building and a 206,000-sf Foundational Sciences building. Session leaders illustrate how the University and design team identified the synergies to bring multiple departments under one roof, the facility requirements for IPE pedagogy, and decisions on flexibility for growth. They profile the project impacts of a “one stop shop” community clinic, and a high commitment to sustainability.

With rapid advances in technology and industry, providing work-ready graduates can be a moving target that requires sophisticated, adaptable, and modernized engineering spaces and infrastructure. Through three case studies of new engineering buildings, the Stantec team compares different approaches that leading institutions have taken to stay competitive and relevant to industry, student, and faculty demands. Which strategy will take your institution to the next level? Session leaders identify features that distinguish and enhance engineering programs and buildings, trending components that influence overall layouts, and decision making on levels of adaptability.

Two institutions, one building, 100% yet-to-be-recruited users, and changing translational research priorities. These are the demanding conditions that put research facility flexibility and adaptability concepts to the test, and here you’ll see the results through a case study of the Texas Instruments Biomedical Engineering & Sciences Building. Session leaders chart the process of defining a balance of facility capability and cost that will sustain multi-disciplinary research programs into the future. They detail key elements of a flexible chassis solution supporting a variety of research typologies, recruitment, and collaboration, and how the adaptability concepts responded to end user buildouts during construction.