Where Sequestration might be ushering in a dark age of science around the country, some science facilities are thriving regardless of the coming cuts. One such facility is the new laboratory at Johns Hopkins University. The new 105,000 square foot facility for undergraduate studies was built to create a better environment for STEM studies at the "required for graduation level". The facility opens in September and will house the Chemistry, Biology, Biophysics, and Psychological and Brain Sciences; and the undergraduate Neuroscience program.
The four-story building will be outfitted with the latest lab technology to accommodate many different learning and teaching styles. The building also includes a computer lab; an instrument core with a nuclear magnetic resonance component; and procedure, tissue culture, autoclave, and cold rooms. Of course, what brand new college facility would be complete without a coffee bar?
Says Katherine Newman, the James B. Knapp Dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, "The building is one of the most exciting additions to the Homewood campus in the past decade, both for the way it promotes first-rate interdisciplinary science education and for the opportunities it will provide for research in biology, neuroscience, chemistry, and biophysics. The labs are state-of-the-art, and they look out over one of the most beautiful settings on campus. I can hardly wait to see our students colonize the labs and the rocking chairs in the atrium. Everything we know about innovation tells us the opportunity to talk shop in a setting that promotes easy interchange is critical to discovery. It will be a whole new day for life sciences in the Krieger School."
Additionally, the building was created with green energy use in mind. Through chilled beams, occupancy sensors that control both lights and HVAC, high-performance fume hoods, daylight sensors, and energy wheels that will recover heat/moisture from exhaust air, the facility is projected to use 40 percent less energy than similar buildings — earning it an expected Silver or Gold LEED certification. The hope is that a science facility of this magnitude at the undergraduate level will propel students into STEM fields, which is exactly what this country needs.
Take a short visual tour of the new facility in this video:
Worlds of Discovery, Now Under One Roof
Image: KARL CONNOLLY
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