Senator Rodham Clinton to Speak at Opening Ceremony of Rensselaer's $100 Million Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies

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Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) (Troy, New York) has completed construction of its state-of-the-art 216,000-square-foot Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies. A formal opening ceremony will take place September 10, following a two-day biotechnology symposium. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., is scheduled to be on hand to speak at the celebration marking the culmination of construction, which was first reported by Industrialinfo.com in April of 2001.

The day's activities will begin with a discussion, hosted by RPI President Shirley Ann Jackson, focused on the "Opportunities at the Interface of Bioscience and Bioengineering". Among those on the panel of distinguished luminaries from the science world are Elias Zerhouni M.D., Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Bruce Alberts Ph.D., President of the National Academy of Sciences.

Designed by the joint venture team of Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann (Butler, Pennsylvania) and Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), the new center mirrors the historic architectural features of Rensselaer's Quad residence hall located at the opposite end of the street. An interesting anecdote is that a number of RPI alumni were part of the design team.

McCarthy Builders (St. Louis, Missouri) served as construction manager of the project, which broke ground in May 2002. RPI expects the new center to be ranked among the world's most advanced research facilities, with the ability to accommodate more than 350 researchers in the fields of biotechnology, information technology, and related disciplines. Other components of the project included offices, an auditorium, and conference rooms for faculty members, researchers, graduate students, and staff.

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