Event Schedule

What you will learn: This course covers the basic elements of planning and design of labs and facilities for teaching and research – upfront planning and programming, teaching lab designs, active learning space designs, informal learning space designs, research lab designs, building design, and planning for mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and lighting systems components. Participants will come away with a basic understanding of the terminology, concepts, processes, standards, numbers, and types of labs, scientific equipment, and furniture (as applicable) involved in teaching and research facility planning and design. The course also serves as primer for the two-day conference that follows and will be highly interactive with Q&A throughout.

Who should attend: This one-day course is open to all who have interest in lab planning and design: project managers, facility planners and managers, lab managers, architects, engineers, construction engineers, faculty, researchers, and scientists employed at colleges and universities, and A/E/C firms.

Space is limited and enrollment is subject to approval.

Cost:
$1,375 Fundamentals Course only
$1,100 with registration to two-day conference immediately following

(Fees include course materials, continental breakfast, refreshment breaks, lunch)

A hosted beer and wine bar along with light snacks will be served.

Attendees may sign-in and pick up their registration materials here, or the next morning at the conference ballroom foyer.

Guests welcome.

See the full list of participating exhibitors and event hosts.

The new state-of-the-art Autodesk Technology Engagement Center (ATEC) at CSU Northridge will enhance the research activities and transform engineering education, inspire students from underserved communities to push the boundaries of technology-related fields, and equip them with the skills necessary to become the next generation of innovators. The state-of-the-art research labs, makerspace, discovery lab, and Equity Innovation Hub enable students to engage in hands-on research and project-based education. Houssam Toutanji examines decision-making on spaces and configurations for prototype creation, pre-manufacture, and iterative design. He illustrates project decisions and solutions aimed at expanding regional outreach and engaging future students and their families in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) fields. He considers the implications of the new facility on the development and delivery of curriculum, leveraging the center's capabilities to provide students with a comprehensive and innovative learning experience.

Engineering has emerged as the nucleus for accelerating discovery into application, and universities are progressively realigning facilities to integrate engineering with a broad range of sciences. Session leaders examine the diverse resources and flexibility required to maximize opportunities for innovation. They profile the latest open and responsive environments where multi-disciplinary teams leverage specialized equipment and adaptable infrastructure for collaboration and productivity. They identify new solutions for accommodating evolving pedagogical and research trajectories. Through analysis of programming benchmarks, they chart recent trends across multiple case studies.

The competitive landscape for enrollment and recruitment is increasing, requiring bespoke facility solutions to initiate or “level-up” research, science, and engineering programs. Forward-facing research facility planning processes must now be a participatory element of strategic planning and factor in urban vs suburban contexts, enrollment and research sponsorship levels, and target goals of initiating, renewing, or re-establishing institutional reputation. Session leaders contrast the contextualized concerns of institutions in a variety of circumstances and illustrate best practices for communication and balancing inspiration with reality. They examine case studies of altering current capital projects during a facilities planning process to establish achievable implementation plans that align with new funding models.
 

Lunch hosted by Vacuubrand.

What should owners budget for cost escalation in 2025 and beyond as the Federal Reserve continues to reduce interest rates? What pricing structure should be used to accurately estimate costs for your science and technology projects? Attend this session to get better pricing and more accurate budget figures, and better understand construction cost drivers for different science and technology projects. The Vermeulens team delivers up-to-date construction cost forecasts based on economic conditions, job creation and cost data from more than 200 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.

Programmatic needs and funding parameters are driving institutions to blend a wide array of uses into individual capital building projects -- from the inclusion of instructional and research spaces to the merging of programs from various colleges and departments within singular buildings. Session leaders deliver success strategies and case studies for using "blended buildings" to support individual program and departmental needs, while also creating vibrant and interconnected communities for research and learning. They illustrate methods for reconciling specific technical requirements with future-facing flexibility, and the efficiency and cost-effectiveness that can be achieved through symbiotic opportunities.

In this session you’ll see how University of Tampa is moving its STEM programs forward with a multi-pronged strategy of space utilization, renovation, and new construction directed by a near-term STEM master plan. Session leaders set out a range of scenarios considered for housing programs, critical pieces of space assessment and utilization data, decision-making criteria, and user engagement processes. They profile the results: Reimagined labs for new ways of teaching, fresh solutions for future-facing research initiatives. They provide guidance and expectations for project continuity through leadership and team composition churn.

The recently-opened Ginsberg Human Centered Computation Hall is a key enabling component of USC’s “Frontiers of Computing” moonshot, and the home of the recently-established School of Advanced Computing. The interdisciplinary collaboration in the Viterbi School of engineering exemplifies the power of innovation across diverse fields. Blending engineering, business, and the arts in one technically-sophisticated building is no easy task, and here Tim Cowell and John Roberson chart the process of catalyzing project vision and design decisions around the technical program needs of advanced computation, robotics, quantum computing, and AI. They examine decisions on faculty and student research spaces, location and infrastructure for a server farm, collaboration areas, and achieving LEED Platinum status.

Reception hosted by Strobic Air Technologies

(Guests welcome)

Courtesy of Tradeline

Princeton University is accelerating toward net zero greenhouse gas emissions in 2046, while also raising the bar for science building capability. The new Environmental Studies and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences buildings demonstrate a big part of the solution: transitioning from carbon-based district heating to a geo-exchange system with thermal energy storage – the second largest such system in the US. Session leaders examine project decisions that delivered high-performance research spaces -- including a vivarium, cleanrooms, trace metals laboratories, mass spectrometers, insectaries, and greenhouses -- in an all-electric facility, advancing both innovation and sustainability. They provide findings and lessons learned to equip others in reconciling science and sustainability targets.

Technology is becoming a vital tool for reducing costs, optimizing space, enhancing safety and security, and ensuring regulatory compliance. Here you’ll see how "smart building" solutions leverage data from connected devices, and integrate streams to deliver sophisticated and actionable insights. Without adopting these technologies, organizations risk falling behind in sustainability, talent retention, and operational efficiency. Brian Haines demonstrates how to create and implement a successful smart buildings strategy, including the right mix of workplace management and smart building technologies, to improve your building's performance, occupant experience, and reduce environmental impact. 
 

Big energy-hogging tools are needed to compute the smallest matter on earth, and the space needs of new-frontier science initiatives are taxing administrators, faculty, and facility teams. Here you’ll see the kind of property commitments and dedicated research facilities that leading institutions are investing in for high-demand programs including quantum technology and semiconductor research. Session leaders illustrate the capabilities and limitations of existing campus infrastructures to support next-gen research and fab facilities, and criteria for making renovate/build decisions. They set out the sustainability challenges presented, options and implications of new environmental controls, and how to adapt spaces to work for emerging science and technologies.

What should owners budget for cost escalation in 2025 and beyond as the Federal Reserve continues to reduce interest rates? What pricing structure should be used to accurately estimate costs for your science and technology projects? Attend this session to get better pricing and more accurate budget figures, and better understand construction cost drivers for different science and technology projects. The Vermeulens team delivers up-to-date construction cost forecasts based on economic conditions, job creation and cost data from more than 200 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.

Programmatic needs and funding parameters are driving institutions to blend a wide array of uses into individual capital building projects -- from the inclusion of instructional and research spaces to the merging of programs from various colleges and departments within singular buildings. Session leaders deliver success strategies and case studies for using "blended buildings" to support individual program and departmental needs, while also creating vibrant and interconnected communities for research and learning. They illustrate methods for reconciling specific technical requirements with future-facing flexibility, and the efficiency and cost-effectiveness that can be achieved through symbiotic opportunities.