(Left to right: Governor Kulongoski, Lorry Lokey and President Frohnmayer) Supported by significant public and private investment, the Lokey Laboratories demonstrates strong partnerships between government, education, and industry.

But that’s good news.

The footprint of the 26,000-gross-square-foot building was designed to sit squarely on bedrock to minimize vibration interference for the sensitive instruments required to work at the micro- and nano- scales.

The removal of nearly 3,000 tons of soil and bedrock between Deschutes and Huestis halls is almost complete, and the foundation will soon be laid for this innovative, underground research facility.

The facility, named in Lorry Lokey’s honor, is on track for completion in fall of 2007 and will house more than twenty high-tech instruments. The Lorry I. Lokey Laboratories is the first major construction for the sciences since 1990.

Lorry Lokey and Joanne Harrington (right) talk with graduate student Jenny Dahl (center) and Professor Dave Johnson (left). Dahl hopes that her work with gold nanoparticles will lead to new medical technologies.

FOUNDATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS

President Dave Frohnmayer and Governor Ted Kulongoski’s public announcement of Lokey’s $10 million gift on June 8 drew a standing ovation from faculty, government, student and industry representatives.

At the podium, Lokey called attention to the collaborative nature of the project, saying that the effort to bolster scientific research in Oregon would need strong legislative, executive, private and industrial support.

The Lokey Laboratories is a good start in that direction. Current funding for the $16.5 million project includes commitments from across the public and private sectors. Most significantly, $9.5 million in bonds and lottery funds was approved by the Oregon Legislature and issued in 2005, and $3 million from Lorry Lokey was given to the project in 2006. The remaining $7 million of Lokey’s gift will go toward the second phase of the Integrative Science Complex.

A signature research center associated with the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI), the Lokey Laboratories is also being built upon a strong foundation of inter-institutional collaboration. ONAMI includes researchers from the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Portland State University, Pacific Northwest National Laboratories and the region’s high-tech companies.

The unprecedented and powerful collaboration of research universities began in 2000 and has been gaining strength ever since with an aim of cultivating research and commercialization to advance the state’s high-tech sector.

“These new facilities support our goals for a vibrant Oregon economy,” Kulongoski said. “Investing in education, research and industry partnerships will pay long-term dividends for the entire state.”

Dave Chen, board chair of the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute, says Oregon could one day have the largest network of high technology equipment in the world.

HIGH-TECH SERVICES

Because the integration of multiple disciplines is needed to address complex scientific problems, the breakthroughs made during the 21st century will likely reflect a new paradigm for academic research, said Rich Linton, vice president for research and graduate studies. “Supporting interdisciplinary education, collaborative scientific research, and public-private partnerships requires new ways of organizing people and configuring the associated high technology facilities,” he added.

In addition to semiconductor, photolithography, nanofabrication and bio-optics labs, the center will house the university’s Center for Advanced Materials Characterization in Oregon (CAMCOR) and provide laboratory space for industry partners.

Leaders envision the facility as providing a high-tech extension service to the entire region. Dave Chen, partner in OVP Venture Partners and chair of the board of directors for ONAMI, described it as an important part of a resource network that will enable students, professors and industry researchers to have access to millions of dollars of equipment at any time of day.

“Our operating philosophy of open access for this new facility represents a complete departure from business as usual at universities,” said Professor of Chemistry Dave Johnson.

The instruments, used to characterize materials for researchers from archaeology to optics, will be centrally located to give other off-campus researchers easier access to state-of-the-art technologies.

“By having the right spaces in close proximity to one another, we’re able to have each facility work better and more efficiently,” said Professor Jim Hutchison, lead faculty representative on the architectural planning and design group.

Working adjacent to industry collaborators will also spur more opportunities for discovery, helping to bring those discoveries quickly and more effectively to market, Linton said.

Linton is optimistic that lease agreements for approximately 2,300 square feet of industry partnership lab space will be signed in the near future. Voxtel, a technology company working to make high-speed photodetectors, is one Oregon company that plans to expand its collaborations with university scientists by having a presence in the facility.

“Through ONAMI, our scientists have conducted research with UO faculty for the past several years,” said Voxtel President George Williams. “These collaborations have enriched our research capabilities, and we’re confident that our company will continue to grow right alongside with the rest of Oregon’s high-tech sector.”

— JL

To read more about Integrative Science at the UO and learn details about phase two of the complex, log on to isc.uoregon.edu.