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'You can only drool,' MSU prof says of new labs
6/1/2007
By Shandra Martinez
The Grand Rapids Press
HOLLAND -- A dozen Michigan State University professors and researchers took their first peek Thursday at the $50 million Pfizer laboratory that will become MSU's bio-research and commercialization center in early 2008.
"Welcome to Michigan State West," said their tour guide William Freckman, site leader for the Pfizer research facility, at 188 Howard Ave.
"Hope you enjoy your new campus."
Eyes lit up as the group entered the pilot plant, the jewel of the 140,000-square-foot high-tech laboratory. With 33 reactors and 10,333-gallon capacity, the pilot plant provides researchers an opportunity to scale up their research for commercial prototyping. Products can be tested in temperatures al low as minus 338 degrees Fahrenheit.
"You can only drool," said Robert Ofoli, admiring the maze of pipes and stainless steel.
"If I look at my lab space, this space is much, much better," said Ofoli, an associate professor in the MSU Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science.
Ofoli is ready to relocate and become part of the bio-research center staff expected to grow to 100 over two years.
The challenge will be figuring how he can do research in Holland while maintaining his teaching schedule at the university's East Lansing campus.
Collaborating with companies
It isn't just getting to work in a world-class industrial research center that has MSU researchers excited, but the opportunity to collaborate with private companies.
Joining the MSU team on the tour were representatives from three companies considering leasing space in the facility: Johnson Controls Inc., Haworth Inc. and Zeeland Farm Services Inc.
Since the announcement of Pfizer's gift to MSU in early May, a half-dozen companies have expressed interest in the facility, including office-furniture manufacturers Herman Miller Inc., of Zeeland, and Steelcase Inc., of Grand Rapids.
"There is a strong appetite for the connection to this type of research," said Randy Thelen, president of Lakeshore Advantage, the Zeeland economic development organization that brokered the deal.
Haworth collaborated with MSU on developing the plant fiber Kenaf displayed at NeoCon, the office furniture convention, in the mid-'90s.
"It never went into production, but it showed what is next," said Tony McConnell, senior development engineer with Haworth.
"I think the time might be right to revisit the work that was done. There has been some development that would make this product even better for today."
'The missing link'
There is a big push to produce products that are sustainable, said Fran Everin, materials specialist for JCI and a recent graduate of MSU's College of Material Science and Engineering, where she earned a master's degree.
"You've got all the new technologies and patents that MSU has developed. The missing link is creating an environment to bring the academia together with business to bring these technologies to the market," Everin said.
Michigan State also is exploring a collaboration with Hope College.
The goal is to bring in undergraduate and graduate students to do some of the research, said Leo Kempel, MSU's associate dean of special initiative and professor of electrical and computer engineering.
"By getting students in here early where they can turn knobs and do experiments, there is much higher chances of getting them into master's and Ph.D. programs," Kempel said.
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