The newly constructed Lorry I. Lokey Laboratories, located underground between Huestis and Deschutes Halls, had its official dedication Tuesday afternoon with a gathering of the many people who worked to build the state-of-the-art facility.
A standing-room only crowd attended the event, which included several key figures in the project’s planning and construction.
The Lokey Laboratories building houses several labs and other facilities, and is equipped with cutting-edge machinery to further the study of nanoscience. The new research center is meant to facilitate the collaboration of all fields of science and unite the academic world with outside industries.
“This setup is great because if we need information from other fields, we can just run across the way,” said chemistry graduate student Noel Gunnings. “This helps to allow us to keep pushing the limit.”
The laboratories’ main benefactor, Lorry I. Lokey, donated $25 million for the underground building named in his honor, which is the first phase of the University’s Integrative Science Complex. The second phase will be another $60 million structure nearby. Additional funding for the $16 million Lokey Laboratories – which houses $32 million in scientific equipment – came from state bonds and other private gifts.
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The facility is associated with the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute, or ONAMI, which is a coalition of Oregon’s three main research universities: the University of Oregon, Oregon State University and Portland State University. Oregon Health and Science University in Portland can also use the building along with several other educational and government affiliates.
This collaboration ensures that students, researchers, and industrial companies alike will have access to the facility and the information gleaned there. Several attendees praised the laboratories’ design that provides researchers the unique ability to rapidly share information across fields.
The Lokey Laboratories’ director, John Donovan, described it as an interdisciplinary science facility where students have the opportunity to use advanced equipment and have contact with leading researcher scientists. Researchers are then able to work together, and industries have “ready access to scientists,” Donovan said.
The Lokey Laboratories building currently has 60 industrial partners involved in research there. These partners may reserve one of the facility’s partnership labs on site.
The Lokey Laboratories are expected to boost Oregon’s economy as it attracts international investors and creates many well paid jobs, said U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
In a written statement, read at the dedication by University President Dave Frohnmayer, Gov. Ted Kulongoski said, “This facility is an example of the state’s innovation-based approach to economic development and the crucial link of higher education research to the economy. Together, the state, the University of Oregon and ONAMI are not only creating the seeds for the economy of the future, but they are enhancing Oregon’s economy today.”
Wyden described the economic boost as a “shot in the arm for Oregon.”
Overall, it is predicted that nanotechnology will become a $3 trillion industry, which in the next 15 years may create 20 million highly skilled jobs worldwide, according to a University press release.
The facility may also lead to improvements in technology, multiple science fields and health care, Lokey said.
In his dedication speech, Lokey explained that this was his reasoning for donating $25 million for the project.
“I don’t look at this as a gift or donation, but an investment,” he said. “This is going to affect future generations … and improve standard of life.”
Wyden, who wrote the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, said that the work done there would be “on the cutting edge of all (science’s) promising work.”
Oregon Congressman David Wu echoed an enthusiasm for the pioneering field.
“This field is transforming the world,” he said. “It is basically providing a better future for you, your children, and your children’s children.”
