The University of Connecticut on Thursday celebrated the completion of its new $220 million, 198,000-square-foot “Science 1” building on its Storrs campus.
Various state and university leaders joined together Thursday morning for an official ribbon cutting for the new building at 25 King Hill Road, followed by tours and a science symposium.
Mike Enright, deputy spokesperson for UConn, said the building went online for student and faculty use in the spring semester.
UConn President Radenka Maric said the new building is “transforming the way we educate,” and will help students succeed.
“This new building — which is designed for best practices in sustainability — will support our efforts for federal funding and support our industry in the state,” Maric said. “We want to be at the top of innovation in Connecticut.”
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said attracting young people to get involved in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields will be “great for Connecticut.”
“Having state-of-the-art facilities gets students excited,” Bysiewicz said. “The governor and I are very passionate about STEM careers. There are many job openings in STEM, and these are the highest paying jobs.”
Bysiewicz said she particularly hopes more women will be inspired by the facility and UConn’s offerings to pursue STEM careers.
“To conquer (differences in) pay equity, we need to get more women involved in STEM,” Bysiewicz said.
State Rep. Gregg Haddad (D-Mansfield) who earned a degree in physics from UConn, said the building is for students who will be the engineers and scientists of the future.
“This building represents the work of so many people who worked to make sure it was designed to meet the needs of the faculty and students who will use it,” Haddad said.
The Science 1 building provides opportunities for interdisciplinary teaching, research, and outreach, according to the university. It is home to the Institute of Materials Science, and will be used by faculty, staff and students across multiple disciplines.
The new building features three levels, and several laboratories for learning and research, such as for mechanical testing, instrumentation, spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, thermal analysis and X-ray diffraction. High voltage testing can be done in its Electrical Insulation Research Center. The building features wet and dry labs and collaboration spaces.
It also has a “clean room,” which is designed to support research in a controlled environment with strict contamination controls, including air filtration.
“This clean room will enable us to push our research to the next level,” Maric said.
University officials described Science 1 as one of the largest and most technologically advanced facilities ever built on the Storrs campus. The Science 1 building was designed as an LEED gold-certified sustainable building, as part of the university’s effort to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.
