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Building Dedications Mark Progress of California Institutes for Science and Innovation

October 29, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
University of California Office of the President
tel. (510) 987-9200

Starting today (Oct. 29) and continuing in the coming weeks, dedications for three new research buildings that are part of the California Institutes for Science and Innovation will mark the next stage in the development of a bold, statewide initiative to produce leading-edge research discoveries that will fuel economic growth and create new jobs for California.

The California Institutes for Science and Innovation are a set of four research institutes that represent a partnership among the University of California, state of California, and private industry. The institutes, launched in 2000, are based at UC campuses and are centers of interdisciplinary research and industry-university cooperation intended to speed the delivery of research discoveries to commercial products for the public benefit.

The California Institute for Bioengineering, Biotechnology, and Quantitative Biomedical Research (QB3) is a partnership among UC San Francisco, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, and industrial partners. The California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Cal-(IT)2) is a partnership among UC San Diego, UC Irvine, and industrial partners. The California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) is a partnership among UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, and industrial partners. And the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) is a partnership among UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC Merced, and industrial partners.

While faculty and industry researchers associated with the institutes are already working on a range of projects, the permanent facilities for the institutes are still being developed. Today at UC Berkeley, a groundbreaking event will mark the beginning of construction for the CITRIS headquarters and research building. A dedication and ribbon-cutting event on Nov. 5 at UC Santa Cruz will open an engineering building that will house facilities for both QB3 and CITRIS. And a ribbon-cutting event at UC Irvine on Nov. 19 will mark the opening of a Cal-(IT)2 research center on that campus.

“These events represent the latest milestones in the development of an incredibly exciting initiative to push the frontiers of discovery and stimulate new economic growth for California,” said UC President Robert C. Dynes. “The California Institutes are increasing the state's capacity for creating new knowledge and the highly skilled work force necessary to drive entrepreneurial business growth and expand California's economy into new industries and global markets.”

In addition to the buildings described above, construction is underway at several other campuses on research facilities that will be part of the California Institutes. State funding for the facilities was provided in previous state budgets; in addition, $2 from non-state sources is being provided for every $1 in state funds devoted to the institutes.

Already, researchers at the institutes are pursuing a range of major questions and challenges with great potential for new product development and broad economic growth, including:

  • Developing new technologies and new areas of research for drug discovery and for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, arthritis, and other afflictions.
  • Using nanosystems to create more energy-efficient lighting, enhance computer power and performance, and increase the amount of information that can be handled by communications infrastructures.
  • Developing cutting-edge information networks to support the deployment and management of first responders in terrorist attacks and natural disasters.
  • Creating microsensors to help in the design of “smart” buildings, in street traffic monitoring, in automobile tire performance and safety, in the prediction of earthquake impacts, and in new technologies for homeland security.

For more information on the California Institutes for Science and Innovation, visit: www.ucop.edu/california-institutes/.

For more information on the UC Berkeley groundbreaking event, call (510) 642-3734. For more information on the UC Santa Cruz dedication event, call (831) 459-2495. And for more information on the UC Irvine dedication event, call (949) 824-6922.