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Teams Chosen for New ISE Building Research Space

12/03/2019

As SLU's new Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering building nears completion ahead of the fall 2020 semester, operational plans progressed with the selection of faculty teams for dedicated research space.

The $50 million facility has been under construction for just over a year, northeast of the Busch Student Center. It will feature innovative teaching spaces and flexible labs, an active learning classroom that can hold up to 210 students and a research computing and data visualization support center.

The allocated research space covers about 6,500 of the 90,000 square feet in the three-story structure. A non-dedicated Research Incubator space will be available to faculty, staff or students as needed.

Kenneth Olliff and Michelle Sabick, Ph.D., ISE Building Committee co-chairs, noted that several faculty teams who may need space less frequently would still benefit from the new building's “great visibility and location for convenings, especially with external partners.”

Projects with dedicated space will be evaluated for continuation based on interdisciplinary collaborations formed, publications, grants, how often the space is occupied, and student opportunities provided.

Selected Faculty Teams and Projects

The WATER Institute

This project, funded through the Research Institute’s Big Ideas competition, will focus on solutions for water in the built environment, protecting aquatic ecosystems and water supply and developing clean water access worldwide.

The team’s ISE facilities will include faculty offices, a hydraulics lab, wet chemistry lab, instrument room, graduate student desks and field equipment storage.

Key Faculty

  • Craig Adams, Ph.D., Oliver L Parks Endowed Chair, professor, civil engineering
  • Amanda Cox, Ph.D., associate professor, civil engineering
  • Dan Hanes, Ph.D., professor, earth and atmospheric sciences
  • Liz Hasenmueller, Ph.D., assistant professor, earth and atmospheric sciences
  • Roger Lewis, Ph.D., professor, environmental and occupational health
  • Ronaldo Luna, Ph.D., professor, civil engineering
  • Chris King, Ph.D., director, Center for Environmental Education and Training
  • Jason Knouft, Ph.D., professor, biology
PATH - People And Technology Horizon

This project focuses on humans and computers interacting in new ways. The investigators have also been supported with funds from the National Science Foundation and a SLU Spark microgrant.

The project space will include faculty offices, shared lab space for faculty and students, demonstration/showcase space and a space for shared instrumentation.

Key Faculty

  • Terra Edwards, Ph.D., assistant professor, anthropology and sociology
  • Flavio Esposito, Ph.D., assistant professor, computer science
  • Jenna Gorlewicz, Ph.D., assistant professor, mechanical engineering

SLU Center for Additive Manufacturing (SLU-CAM)

This project, funded through the Research Institute’s Big Ideas competition, centers on the acquisition of two high-end three-dimensional printers to support research across the university, but particularly in engineering, chemistry and medicine. The facility will serve the SLU community and beyond.

Key Faculty

  • Andrew Hall, D.Sc., assistant professor, biomedical engineering
  • Scott Martin, Ph.D., professor and department chair, chemistry
  • Scott Sell, Ph.D., associate professor, biomedical engineering
  • Andre Castiaux, Ph.D., post-doctoral fellow, chemistry
  • Chris Carroll, Ph.D., assistant professor, civil engineering
Computer Science
This assignment supports growth in core research within the Department of Computer Science in areas such as artificial intelligence, network and security, virtual reality, and data science. It will benefit the department as a whole and its faculty.
The Walter J. Ong, S.J., Center for the Digital Humanities

This assignment aims to make it easier for faculty and students in the growing field of digital humanities to work with other computational and data science experts who will also be housed in the new building. Activities will include software development, research and teaching support and promoting why and how to engage in digital humanities.

Key Collaborators

  • Phyllis Weliver, D. Phils, professor, English
  • John McEwan, Ph.D., digital humanities
Computational/Structural Biology

As with the Ong Center, this assignment aims to improve collaboration between computational and structural biology, a high need and growing area for SLU, and related experts in computation and bioinformatics who will be housed in the new building.

Key Faculty

  • Marvin Meyers, Ph.D., associate professor, chemistry
  • John Walker, Ph.D., assistant professor, pharmacology and physiology