Temple University's Science Education and Research Center—SERC—was officially dedicated October 10 at a ribbon-cutting event attended by more than 250 university officials, alumni, faculty and students. Also in attendance were several members of Temple's Board of Trustees, including Chairman Patrick J. O'Connor; Congressman Chaka Fattah; and Pennsylvania Lt. Governor James F. Cawley IV, a Temple alumnus who spoke during the ceremony.
Other featured speakers included President Neil Theobald, Provost Hai-Lung Dai and College of Science and Technology Dean Michael L. Klein. "SERC represents Temple's commitment to innovation in science and technology, which underpins the U.S. economy," said Klein. "Here, Temple researchers and students working together will create new materials, help improve medicines, develop sustainable technologies and understand, at the most fundamental level, the world we live in."
At 247,000 square feet, SERC is one of the largest buildings devoted exclusively to scientific research in the Philadelphia region. The structure includes 52 research labs and 16 teaching labs, open spaces to foster collaboration, and high-tech equipment such as clean rooms, where particle levels in the air are controlled, and a low-vibration scanning tunneling microscope facility, used to image surfaces down to the atomic level. SERC will also be home to the departments of Computer & Information Sciences and Physics. The building, scheduled to be fully completed by the end of the year, opened for students and faculty on September 29.
SERC will house seven research centers and institutes, including the Center for Networked Computing, Center for Biodiversity and the Institute for Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine, which focuses on the discovery of evolutionary patterns and processes that can be used in genomic and personalized medicine.
"State-of-the-art facilities like SERC, in combination with bringing together a critical mass of scientific experts, is creating an exciting environment for discovery and for educating the next generation of scientists and technology innovators at Temple," says Michele Masucci, Interim Senior Vice Provost for Research, who notes that in the past 5 years Temple has generated close to 250 discoveries, a 71 percent increase. "As SERC opens its doors, Temple's growing commercialization program provides a strong platform to advance technologies to market while serving as an economic engine for Greater Philadelphia and beyond."
SERC is Temple's first building to be eligible for LEED Gold certification. It features advanced water recovery and heat exchange systems and exterior light shades and interior light shelves to control heat and to bring sunlight deeper into the building. Construction began in July 2012 and was financed by a grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a Temple University bond issue. More than 20 Temple alumni and friends have contributed to named spaces within the building.
"Temple and the College of Science and Technology provide me with amazing opportunities to explore, to find what I love to do and to succeed," said Katey Steinberg, a Temple biology and Spanish major who was a featured speaker. "SERC's opening demonstrates how much Temple cares about innovative education. The interdisciplinary research that will be achieved here will offer students many opportunities to work with great faculty, to use advanced equipment and to make scientific discoveries."