University dedicates $47 million Belknap Research Building
April 14th, 2006
A new signature building on Belknap Campus was dedicated April 13 when U of L President James R. Ramsey and U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell cut the ribbon on the Belknap Research Building.
Working in the 117,000-square-foot facility should encourage multidisciplinary research, with more than 40 scientists from the College of Arts and Sciences, Speed School of Engineering and Health Sciences Center collaborating on projects.
The Belknap Research Building also boasts the largest clean room in Kentucky, which will allow researchers to study nanotechnology and work on projects that require absolute precision.
“The development of research in nanotechnology and MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) technology is very important to this university,” Ramsey said. “We continue to think big in terms of our research and what we're about at the University of Louisville.”
“The research is very special. It's truly interdisciplinary,” said Nancy Martin, senior vice president for research. “These scientists are working together in ways that were difficult to do and are working on projects that, until this building existed, were impossible to do.”
Funding for the building became possible through a partnership between the commonwealth of Kentucky and the university. Federal earmarks of $7.7 million secured by McConnell also paved the way for the completion of the clean room.
