May 14,
2007
Goergen Hall ribbon cutting set for May 17
The sleek, contemporary interior of Goergen Hall,
filled with natural light and bamboo paneling, is the perfect backdrop for
the scientific collaboration taking place inside. The building, which will
be officially dedicated during a ceremony on May 17, is the new home of
both the Institute of Optics and the Department of Biomedical Engineering
(BME), bringing together two of the University’s most successful
academic programs and opening the possibilities for breakthrough research.
The Robert B. Goergen Hall for Biomedical Engineering
and Optics is the first new academic building for the College in 20
years and the first University building to incorporate sustainable design
elements, such as energy efficient heating and cooling systems and a
bioretention basin to control runoff and filter pollutants.
Inside are state-of-the-art lecture halls, the
150-seat Sloan Auditorium, 30 laboratories, and the Munnerlyn Atrium, a
light-filled space where students, staff, and faculty can interact and
share ideas. There’s also the new Center for Institute Ventures, an
initiative to help faculty commercialize their research and discoveries.
The building bears the name of trustee Robert Goergen
’60, a former physics major whose $10 million gift helped fund
construction. Goergen, President Seligman, Institute of Optics Director
Wayne Knox, and others will speak at the May 17 ribbon-cutting ceremony and
dedication.
“We’re the only optics department that is
directly connected to a BME department,” says Knox. “Many of
the studies we’re working on in optics have very exciting connections
to biomedical studies—advanced microscopes, imaging systems, special
kinds of lasers. It will be great to have colleagues to work closely with,
literally under the same roof.”
Richard Waugh, chair of the Department of
Biomedical Engineering, looks forward to the collaboration. “Just
about from any hallway I can see every other hallway in the building.
I’ll be running into people from optics all the time.”
One joint effort between biomedical engineering and
optics faculty is the study of proteins and viruses on a single molecule
level, an approach that provides more information than traditional methods
based on ensemble averaging. Currently, looking at a single protein is not
possible in biology and medical science, according to Lukas Novotny,
professor of optics. Using new optical techniques, Mark Dumont, professor
of biochemistry and biophysics; Novotny; Jim McGrath, assistant
professor of biomedical engineering; and Waugh look at ion exchange
proteins and adhesion proteins with a closeness that has deluded
traditional biomedical research. Watching live cells, studying cell
motility, and observing single viruses are other examples of
specialty-combination projects.
Waugh brings other layers of collaboration with his
involvement with the Medical Center. “I view biomedical engineering
as a major facilitator of interaction between College scientists and
engineers and scientists and physicians at the medical school,” he
says.
Even the free-trade coffee shop in the atrium invites
great minds to come together and share, with the Millennium Bridge walkway
leading to the third floor of the Carlson Library and the Computer Studies
Building.
“This is not only symbolic,” says Knox.
“On a cold day, people from the connecting buildings can get here by
bridge to have a cup of coffee with us. This is what we think of as the
‘sociology of science,’ and it will bring unexpected results
that will be important to the University.”
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