<p>What's your opinion on the article? How do you see it helping the university, and local? Internationally?</p>
<p>MSU's new atomic research center gives Michigan an economic, image boost</p>
<p>Posted by Peter Luke | Lansing Bureau December 11, 2008 20:20PM
Categories: GR Press, MLive News</p>
<p>LANSING -- It doesn't take a nuclear physicist to understand the importance of Michigan State University landing a $550 million atomic research center.</p>
<p>Thursday's U.S. Department of Energy announcement underscores MSU's international role in such research. But it also provides a big shot in the arm to a state viewed nationally as an economic basket case.</p>
<p>MSU beat out the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois for the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams. The project, to be built over the next decade in East Lansing, will mean hundreds of permanent high-paying academic jobs, thousands of direct and indirect jobs related to construction and a $1 billion impact on the state's economy.
FACT BOX</p>
<p>What's a FRIB?
Facility for Rare Isotope Beams -- a $550 million tool for distilling atoms into unique forms to study the structures of nuclei and the forces that bind them.</p>
<p>Why is that important?
Scientists can study the nuclear reactions that power stars, theorize about origins of the universe and test theories on the fundamental nature of physical matter.</p>
<p>How did MSU land the facility?
MSU's National Superconductor Cyclotron Laboratory is an international center for research and the school is a leading educator of nuclear scientists. The U.S. Department of Energy ruled MSU's fiscal and scientific proposal superior to that of the Argonne National Laboratory outside Chicago.</p>
<p>What does it mean for Michigan?
Jobs. Hundreds of research jobs, nearly 800 construction jobs, plus thousands more indirectly. And reputation. It confirms the important economic role of state universities and solidifies the state as a leader in public and private research.</p>
<p>"I'm having a good day," MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said after the announcement from Washington. "These are the kinds of projects that you very rarely have a chance to compete in, let alone win.</p>
<p>"It also says that Michigan is a place to come for cutting-edge technology," she said.</p>
<p>U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, said a "massive effort to highlight MSU's unique capabilities paid off of MSU, Michigan and the nation. It is the best news for Michigan in a long time."</p>
<p>Construction funding still must be appropriated by Congress, but the award also means a likely tripling of the $20 million in annual federal funding MSU receives for nuclear science research.</p>
<p>MSU's National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory has been a national leader in nuclear science for nearly half a century. MSU's graduate school of nuclear physics is ranked second in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. The new facility is expected to retain or generate 400 jobs, including 180 positions on campus. MSU currently attracts some 700 scientists from 32 countries for nuclear research. That user group is expected to grow to more than 1,000.</p>
<p>Project design will begin immediately with construction expected to commence in 2013 toward a completion date in 2017. An expansion of the current lab, which includes 10,000 square feet of experimentation space, is expected to be completed in 2010.</p>
<p>The centerpiece of the project is a next-generation, 400-meter linear accelerator that will tunnel underneath the MSU campus. The accelerator allows scientists to more effectively create and study rare isotopes -- atomic nuclei that offer insight into the basic nature of physical matter. From that research, scientists can delve into subjects ranging from the evolution of the universe to developing new techniques in nuclear medicine or manufacturing.</p>
<p>It was critical that MSU land the FRIB project. Without the advanced equipment, akin to moving from dial-up Internet to high-speed broadband, university researchers feared the school's status as a national leader in rare isotope research would decline.</p>
<p>U.S. Rep. Vernon Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids, said the project "puts Michigan on the map scientifically in a way that it hasn't been before and keeps MSU on the map as a leader in this field."</p>
<p>Ehlers, a physicist, said MSU has a proven track record in nuclear science and was willing to financially commit to the project.</p>
<p>DOE officials said MSU provided a budget for the project that was "reasonable and realistic. MSU also offered a direct cost share to the project."</p>
<p>In a statement critical of the decision, U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Ill., said MSU offered financial resources that Argonne and its partners at the University of Chicago "simply did not have."</p>
<p>Simon, MSU faculty and students, Michigan's congressional delegation and an advisory group of some four-dozen civic leaders from around the state made a strong, concerted push for the project.</p>
<p>East Lansing economist Patrick Anderson said in addition to research jobs, construction jobs could near 800 over the duration of the project, and those jobs in turn would lead to nearly 5,000 indirect jobs.</p>
<p>Once in operation, he said, the project would give Michigan an advantage over other states in attracting other high-tech research jobs.</p>
<p>Michigan, struggling for much of this decade as the Detroit Three auto companies restructure, is viewed nationally as an ailing one-industry state. But it's also a state with considerable scientific talent in the public and private sectors, a fact that will become more widely known through this project, Ehlers said.</p>
<p>"Many new scientific discoveries tend to create new industries," Ehlers said. "Just as Silicon Valley emerged from Stanford and (the University of California at) Berkeley, there may well be scientific industries that will develop around MSU based on the work that is done there."</p>
<p>MSU, the University and Michigan and Wayne State University spent $1.38 billion on research in 2006, according to Anderson's research, making it the fifth largest university research cluster in the nation. With nearly 50,000 full-time employees, the three schools had a net economic impact of $13.3 billion in 2007.</p>
<p>Simon said the Michigan coalition that worked to secure the FRIB project "shows that when you have an alignment of assets working toward something big, we can pull that off."</p>
<p>"The odds weren't very high, but if you work hard and work creatively, you can make things happen that at one point seemed impossible," she said. "Those are good messages for the state of Michigan."</p>
<h2>Another Breaking News from E. Lansing!! Go Green!!</h2>
<p>Tuesday, January 13, 2009 </p>
<p>IBM to establish tech center on MSU campus; 1,500 new jobs expected</p>
<p>Marisa Schultz / The Detroit News</p>
<p>Michigan State University will be home to a first-of-its kind IBM center that will advance new technologies and create up to 1,500 jobs within five years, according to a joint announcement today by MSU, the state of Michigan and IBM. </p>
<p>IBM will open its Global Delivery Center for Application Services -- the only one in the United States -- by the end of March in the former headquarters of the MSU Federal Credit Union building on campus, creating 100 new jobs by June. </p>
<p>Working with MSU professors and students, the IBM center will develop applications and provide support services to modernize older systems for state and local government agencies and universities. In addition, IBM will work with telecommunications, health care and other U.S.-based clients to upgrade IT applications. </p>
<p>At a time when Michigan is hemorrhaging jobs and people, state and local leaders touted IBM's move as progress in the state's long-term goal of transforming from a brawn-based to brain-based economy. </p>
<p>"We are working hard every day to grow our economy and create jobs," Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm said in a statement. "This center is an outstanding example of a project that brings together economic development, educational opportunity and jobs in a way that can help transform our economy in the 21st century." </p>
<p>IBM aims to collaborate with MSU professors on training students for potential jobs. Students studying computer science, supply chain and engineering will be candidates for employment in the IBM Global Delivery Center, according to MSU. </p>
<p>"Michigan State University shares the bold vision for the role technology plays in building a diverse 21st century economy," MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said in statement. "Our partnership with IBM will involve a multidisciplinary approach that leverages the intellectual assets of several (MSU) colleges, including Business, Engineering, Natural Science, and Social Science." </p>
<p>IBM, an Armonk, N.Y.-based company with 2007 revenues of $98.8 billion, services more than a dozen large corporate, governmental and institutional accounts around the state. The new center is also expected to help IBM customers around the country and to centralize the company's application support. </p>
<p>"This project demonstrates Michigan's pledge to use technology to improve agency services, as well as a commitment to create highly skilled job opportunities for its citizens," Charles L. Prow, managing partner government, IBM Global Business Services, said in a statement. </p>
<p>The center is the culmination of an existing relationship MSU has with the information technology giant. MSU and IBM have teamed up on recruitment, research and education in the past, including faculty from the Eli Broad College of Business have led seminars for the company and IBM already is a top employer of MSU graduates. </p>
<p>Satish Udpa, dean of the College of Engineering, called the partnership with IBM and the state, a "marriage made in heaven." </p>
<p>"From the state's point of view, this is a shot in the arm with respect to the economy," Udpa said. "From IBM's perspective, it's an opportunity to do business in a location that has several advantages -- access to talent, many other intangibles that an internationally focused university community can offer. ... Plus it's also a place where the cost of operating a business can be very low, potentially. </p>
<p>"It's a big win for the university because it provides opportunities for our students to work with a world-class company. It allows us to get into research areas that we have not been engaged with in the past." </p>
<p>Granholm praised IBM's choice to locate in Michigan. She has long envisioned a technology corridor in the state that will generate job growth and improve the economic base. The city of East Lansing, Lansing Economic Area Partnership, MSU Federal Credit Union and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation all were key players in wooing IBM to MSU, leaders said. </p>
<p>"This is a huge opportunity for our region," said Denyse Ferguson, LEAP's president and CEO. "We're thrilled to welcome IBM and everything they're bringing in terms of jobs, opportunities for students and support for our IT sector." </p>
<p>The application development center will be located at 600 E. Crescent Road in East Lansing, occupying the 8,400-square-foot second floor. MSU Federal Credit Union moved last year from this building to its new headquarters on West Road in East Lansing. Additional expansion space for IBM is available in the building's basement.</p>
<p>State's on a bit of a roll it seems. Good for them and good for the state of Michigan. The University of Michigan just purchases 2.2 million sq. feet of very high tech office/laboratory space. We need all the breaks we can get right now.</p>
<p>Hopefully this will reduce the 21% unemployment rate.</p>
<p>Posted: 2:44 PM Feb 17, 2010</p>
<p>MSU Lands $25 Million Research Grant </p>
<p>Billed as a boost to the local economy
Reporter: Liam Martin
Email Address: <a href="mailto:liam.martin@wilx.com">liam.martin@wilx.com</a></p>
<p>EAST LANSING – Lots of smiling faces in the Biomedical and Physical Sciences Building on Wednesday.</p>
<p>“The National Science Foundation will be announcing a $25 million grant for Bio/computational Evolution in Action CONsortium, or BEACON,” said MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon at a presser.</p>
<p>$25 million from the NSF to build a new Science and Technology Center — one of only 12 in the country – this one equipped to study evolution in action, in petri dishes.</p>
<p>“Because bacteria have very short generation times, we can actually watch as they evolve and change over time,” said MSU Professor of Microbiology Richard Lenski, who’s also co-manager of BEACON.</p>
<p>Those observations of real-life organisms then inform the centerpiece of the program – a computer model that allows researchers to simulate evolution in hyperdrive. Once they’ve seen the process of survival of the fittest, they can duplicate it to engineer better technology faster, like more fuel-efficient cars. </p>
<p>Good news for the local economy.</p>
<p>“We’ll have 20, and probably 30, new graduate students involved,” said BEACON Director Erik Goodman, as he listed off the new positions created by the project. “Eight or 10 post-docs, which are full-time researchers. And we’ll have new faculty lines.”</p>
<p>And BEACON is just the tip of the research iceberg. Michigan State has also begun work on the much-anticipated FRIB, or Facility for Rare Isotope Beams. </p>
<p>“Right now for FRIB, we’ve added 300 people to the community,” Simon said Wednesday. “If that were a small company, you would be celebrating that as a significant achievement.”</p>
<p>All told, FRIB, which will study nuclear science, is expected to have a $1 billion economic impact. </p>
<p>BEACON won’t quite stack up to that, but project managers say the research could lead to partnerships with industries interested in their work – and that’s a plus for everyone involved.</p>
<p>“All these students that are funded are spending their money in the Lansing area,” Goodman said, “and bringing more health to our economy.”</p>
<p>Source: <a href=“http://www.wilx.com/news/headlines/84616502.html[/url]”>http://www.wilx.com/news/headlines/84616502.html</a></p>