Dear College of Science Faculty and Staff,
This Tuesday, a group of us (me, Associate Dean Erin Cram, Associate Dean Sam Inman, and Assistant Director of Space Planning and Safety Sarah Stanton) took a trip to our Northeastern Innovation Campus at Burlington. Burlington is a close Network site, but quite different from the hustle of our Boston campus. I’ve visited multiple times and admired the Life Sciences Testing Center, but without the full tour. For now, there is free parking, and the 14-acres is open and quiet. We connected with Associate Dean Jared Auclair, who is also Director of BATL, and runs an industry-focused research group at Burlington; Peter Boynton, CEO, George J. Kostas Institute (KRI); and Professor Deniz Erdogmus, CTO, KRI.
Some of our network sites are still searching for a theme, but for Burlington it’s clear and powerful: ‘Accelerating Innovation through Partnerships’. ‘Here, faculty and students work closely with experts from industry, government, and academia, translating discoveries into revolutionary new technologies, materials, and systems.’
Really, it was such an interesting, exciting visit. The campus is all about connections between science, engineering and industry, through the many startups on the campus, established companies present, and industry-connected research. Multiple COS faculty are represented – including Jared Auclair, Leila Deravi, Alex Makryannis, Meni Wanunu and Sunny Zhou.
Some of our group volunteered their best things about the trip. Sarah Stanton thought the Stress Lab was her favorite space – fascinating to test materials (even huge steel pipes and plates) to failure but also to prototype, develop, and test again. And the anechoic chamber for drone testing (see Images of the Week) was unique. Erin Cram thought that minimalist space could be attractive for early stage start-ups, and that shared space can work for some types of jobs. That Burlington might be a good conference venue, and BATL has lots of great equipment.
The equipment reminded me (yet again) how fascinating and sophisticated is Science – the Mass Specs, Bioreactors, and Sequencers, and the space designated for our Quantum Materials and Sensors Institute. A vast area with a towering roof, thick concrete floor ready to accept sensitive equipment, a smart grey and yellow color scheme. The story of George Kostas, Northeastern alum who gave the gift and vision for the Kostas Institute, is terrific.
Most of all, I love the possibilities for the College of Science out in Burlington, that could connect some of our research groups with industry. Over the next weeks, we’ll build an initial plan for incorporating COS further into the Burlington Innovation Campus. We invite your ideas and thoughts! Please email me or Erin Cram, Associate Dean for Research; or add your comments to our feedback form.
Best regards,
Hazel Sive PhD
Dean, College of Science
Northeastern University |
Northeastern University College of Science