Proposed Science and Engineering Complex to Advance University Research

A proposed science and engineering complex on campus will strengthen current research in engineering, technology and the biomedical sciences.

GW is pursuing plans to create a world-class complex on campus dedicated to research and learning in science and engineering. The proposed facility—tentatively to be located on the site of the existing University Parking Garage and the adjacent Building K—would provide up to 500,000 square feet of space to house research laboratories and classrooms for faculty and students in GW’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Science and School of Medicine.

“The proposed science and engineering complex is a necessary complement to the research pursuits of GW faculty members and students,” says Donald R. Lehman, executive vice president for academic affairs and George Gamow professor of theoretical physics. “It also will be a distinguishing hallmark of the University’s research traditions and vision.”

The proposed complex would consolidate science and engineering research facilities, now in locations across the Foggy Bottom Campus, freeing up space for social sciences, humanities and policy programs. It would also enable faculty and students to
explore new areas of research, such as renewable and sustainable energy, biomedical imaging and diagnostics, and nanotechnology and engineered materials. The earliest date for commencement of the construction project would be summer 2011.

In February, the GW Board of Trustees approved a budget of up to $10 million for a feasibility study for benchmarking, programming and preliminary architectural design for the complex. The University will seek input on the project from the GW and Foggy
Bottom communities once the feasibility study is completed and reviewed by the Board of Trustees. The primary funding sources for the proposed complex are revenue from Square 54 lease payments, federal reimbursement for grants and contracts supporting faculty research, and fundraising, which will be used to either directly fund the project or fund debt service on the project financing.

Dr. Lehman says the proposed complex will be crucial in advancing GW into the top tier
of research universities. “The new space will be a site of crossdisciplinary collaboration that will transform our learning environment and enable us to recruit
and retain top-flight faculty and students,” he says. “It will be a new kind of research space in which we can develop projects that will respond to national priorities, attract funding and increase GW’s visibility as an indispensable source of expertise in the heart of the nation’s capital.”

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