By Daniel J. Vargas
August 25, 2008
Event: The University of Texas at Austin students, faculty, staff and friends will attend a dedication of the new $55 million Biomedical Engineering Building including Bill Powers, president of The University of Texas at Austin and several deans, including Ben Streetman, dean of the Cockrell School of Engineering. Biomedical engineering faculty will be available before the dedication ceremony to discuss their ongoing and ground-breaking research.
When: Thursday, Aug. 28, 1-4 p.m. Department of Biomedical Engineering faculty will be available from 1-2 p.m. The dedication ceremony begins at 2 p.m. with various university and industry speakers, followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 3 p.m. and a reception lasting until 4 p.m.
Where: Biomedical Engineering Building, 107 W. Dean Keeton St., at the southeast corner of Dean Keeton and University Avenue. For a map, visit: http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/bme.html.
Background: The 141,000-square-foot, six-story laboratory and research building was designed as the gateway to the university's northern campus. Its location creates a front door to the life sciences complex that includes the Neural & Molecular Science Building, the Louise and James Robert Moffett Molecular Biology Building and the future Experimental Science Building.
The building will house classrooms, research laboratories and administrative offices of the Biomedical Engineering Department. In addition, the College of Natural Sciences and the College of Pharmacy will each occupy one floor, providing interdisciplinary strength to the already stellar department.
It houses nine optics labs built two stories underground to minimize the effects of vibration. A dozen wet labs, eight tissue-culture rooms, several dry labs and four computational labs also exist for medical research. The building became the first facility on campus with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Some of its sustainable features include a rainwater collection system, use of products with recycled content, carbon dioxide monitoring and Greenguard-certified furniture.
Funding for the building was provided by the state's Permanent University Fund, the university, the Washington, D.C.-based Whitaker Foundation ($3 million) and the Cockrell School ($5 million).
Faculty members available for interviews at the dedication from 1-2 p.m. include:
-- Assistant Professor Mia Markey, whose research focuses on computer-aided detection of breast cancer in mammography as well as 3-D face recognition.
-- Associate Professor Krishnendu Roy, whose work develops cancer and infectious-disease vaccines and involves generating immune cells from stem cells for cell therapy.
-- Assistant Professor James Tunnell, who conducts nanoparticle cancer research and is testing a device that detects skin cancer using weak pulses of light.
-- Assistant Professor Muhammad Zaman, who is developing the next generation of global computing methods using idle computers to solve the biggest challenges in cancer. This work is complemented by multi-disciplinary experimental approaches developed in his lab to study tumor metastasis.
NOTE to editors and reporters: Starting at noon the day of the event, media should call the following mobile number for: Daniel J. Vargas, Cockrell School of Engineering, 832-372-3588.
For more information, contact: Daniel J. Vargas, Cockrell School of Engineering, 512-471-7541, Daniel.vargas2@engr.utexas.edu; Kenneth Diller, Cockrell School of Engineering, 512-471-7167, kdiller@mail.utexas.edu; Jack Hart, Cockrell School of Engineering, 512-471-0204, jdhart@mail.utexas.edu
About the Cockrell School of Engineering:
The Cockrell School ranks among the top ten engineering programs in the United States and aspires to move into the top five. With the nation's fourth highest number of faculty members elected to the National Academy of Engineering, the Cockrell School's more than 7,000 students work with many of the world's finest engineering educators and researchers. This environment prepares graduates to become engineering leaders and innovators working for the betterment of society.
