If 2008’s inaugural <a href="http://www.WiscMathBio.org">MathBio Symposium</a> was a big-picture look at collaboration, the focus of this year’s symposium is on the best picture. MathBio 2: Image, hosted by the <a href="http://www.discovery.wisc.edu/">Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery</a> and the <a href="http://www.grad.wisc.edu/">Graduate School</a> on Nov. 19 and 20 at the <a href="http://www.map.wisc.edu/?initObj=0139" title="View this building on the campus map">Fluno Center</a>, will highlight the need for interdisciplinary collaborative efforts to better understand, analyze, visualize and disseminate biological imaging data. Leading the list of keynote speakers is John Anderson, a senior scientist at Pixar Animation Studios and former UW-Madison atmospheric and oceanic science professor. Anderson, who founded the university’s Computational Sciences Program, has applied his expertise in fluid dynamics to create special effects and animation for films, and will discuss image visualization and analysis and how these approaches including visual abstraction can be applied in scientific imaging. Panels and presentations are structured to maximize the potential for fruitful cross-disciplinary discussion by inviting contributions from audience members and avoiding dips into jargon and minutia familiar only to experts in a single field. Maryellen L. Giger, a University of Chicago radiology professor and a leader in computer-aided diagnosis, and Robert F. Murphy, a computational biology professor at Carnegie Mellon University and a renowned expert in cell image analysis, are the other keynote speakers in a schedule that includes a number of UW-Madison life and physical science faculty and members of the Center for Humanities and the for Visual Culture Center. If 2008’s inaugural MathBio Symposium was a big-picture look at collaboration, the focus of this year’s symposium is on the best picture. MathBio looks at ‘best picture’ 17253 2009-10-21T09:31:00-05:00

2009-10-21T09:32:52-05:00

176

Artists on campus and across the Midwest are invited to submit an application for the commission of art to be installed in the <a href="http://www.discovery.wisc.edu/">Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery</a>. One artist will be chosen to create four works of art, each one to be displayed as part of four water features in the institutes’ Town Center. The pieces will be on display for three to five years, when new works will be commissioned. The selection committee is interested in artwork that reflects the philosophy and goals of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery. Applicants may wish to address the concept of discovery as a metaphor, commonalities between the creative and scientific process, and involving scientists in idea generation or the creation process. Applications are due by Sunday, <abbr title="November">Nov.</abbr> 1. Proposal and application details are available at <a href="http://discovery.wisc.edu">http://discovery.wisc.edu</a>. Artists on campus and across the Midwest are invited to submit an application for the commission of art to be installed in the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery. Artists may apply to install art at Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery 17187 2009-10-07T09:38:00-05:00

2009-10-07T09:43:17-05:00

175

Capping an intensely competitive process, five proposals from University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty have been selected to form the intellectual heart of the <a href="http://discovery.wisc.edu/discovery">Wisconsin Institute for Discovery</a> (<acronym title="Wisconsin Institute for Discovery">WID</acronym>). WID is the public half of the <a href="http://discovery.wisc.edu/discovery">Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery</a>, complemented by the private <a href="http://discovery.wisc.edu/morgridge">Morgridge Institute for Research</a>. Both entities will occupy the new interdisciplinary research facility now under construction in the 1300 block of University Avenue. Chosen from a final pool of 12 proposals, the five research themes and their faculty leaders selected for inclusion in the new institute are: <ul> <li>Epigenetics or how genes are activated or inactivated, led by <a href="http://www.bmolchem.wisc.edu/faculty/denu.html">John M. Denu</a>, a professor of biomolecular chemistry in the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health.</li> <li>Tissue engineering scaffold research, led by <a href="http://www.engr.wisc.edu/me/faculty/turng_lih-sheng.html">Lih-Sheng Turng</a>, UW-Madison professor of mechanical engineering.</li> <li>Health Technology Design in the Living Environments Laboratory aimed at accelerating the development of personal care diagnostic and therapeutic technology, led by <a href="http://www.engr.wisc.edu/ie/faculty/brennan_patricia.html">Patricia Flatley Brennan</a>, professor of industrial and systems engineering and nursing.</li> <li>Optimization in Biology and Medicine, a mathematical approach to minimize or maximize the variables of a given subject, led by <a href="http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~ferris/">Michael C. Ferris</a>, professor of computer science.</li> <li>Systems Biology, an integrated, "system level" understanding of living organisms, spearheaded by <a href="http://www.engr.wisc.edu/che/faculty/yin_john.html">John Yin</a>, professor of chemical and biological engineering. </li> </ul> <div id="sideBar"> <h2>Related:</h2> Read more about the five <a href="http://www.news.wisc.edu/16869">Wisconsin Institute for Discovery research themes</a> </div> Interim WID Director John D. Wiley, who led the selection process with the WID Program Committee, says the selection of the five research themes to occupy the new institute is a key step in charting the long-term future of a novel interdisciplinary center. "It was a difficult selection process," Wiley notes. "We had 12 excellent proposals, and narrowing the list to a select few was hard. But we feel we have identified five areas of research that fit neatly into the mission of WID and will mesh with and enhance the goals and activities of the Morgridge Institute for research." The selection of the five WID research themes concludes a process that began nearly three years ago with a call for proposals for the Discovery Seed Grant Initiative, which jump-started WID programming by funding eight projects from a campuswide competition. The full WID research theme competition, according to Wiley, represented a rare chance for faculty to construct novel programs of research. A key goal of the new institute is to intermingle faculty, staff and students from across campus in interdisciplinary research that can be translated beyond academia and help underpin the future economy of the state. The selection process for the WID research themes, beginning with a call that elicited 26 pre-proposals, was intense and rigorous, Wiley explains. The WID Program Committee selected 12 pre-proposals for submission as full proposals. Submitted full proposals were peer-reviewed by internal and external expert reviewers, with each proposal receiving at least one external and two internal reviews. Final selection was then made by the WID Program Committee. "All 26 of the pre-proposals were excellent, so selecting 12 finalists was already a difficult process. Naming only five themes from among the 12 outstanding finalists was even more difficult," says Wiley, noting that the committee was convinced that many of the good ideas and proposed projects from the pre-proposals and final proposals will be engaged with WID and the Morgridge Institute, regardless of location on campus. The WID Program Committee included Chancellor Biddy Martin; Provosts or Interim Provosts Patrick Farrell, Julie Underwood and Paul DeLuca; Graduate School Dean Martin Cadwallader; WID Interim Directors Marsha Mailick Seltzer and Wiley; Morgridge Institute Director Sangtae Kim; College of Engineering Dean Paul Peercy; professor and chair of bacteriology Jo Handelsman; professor and chair of physiology Rick Moss; and professor of computer sciences Miron Livny. The successful faculty proposers will occupy space in the new WID facility, which is being constructed with support from the state of Wisconsin, UW-Madison alumni John and Tashia Morgridge and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. Wiley says the selection of the WID research themes caps a process set in motion by the visions of alumni donors John and Tashia Morgridge, Gov. Jim Doyle, the WARF and Morgridge Institute boards of directors, and WARF managing director Carl Gulbrandsen. "I would like to thank all of these people and the organizations that have helped to make this possible," Wiley says. "We are well on our way to establishing exciting new programs of research that will significantly enhance our research portfolio as well as the reputation of our university and state." Capping an intensely competitive process, five proposals from University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty have been selected to form the intellectual heart of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery (WID). Five big ideas to fill out Wisconsin Institute for Discovery portfolio 16868 2009-06-30T09:16:00-05:00

15379

2009-06-30T09:40:33-05:00

On May 26, the <a href="http://wids.live.acumium.com/home/discovery/facility/construction-process/construction-team/">construction team</a> of the new <a href="http://discovery.wisc.edu">Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery</a> held a “topping out” ceremony, traditional in the building industry for recognizing the construction milestone of placing and welding the last beam at the top of a building. This event marks the completion of the external framework for the innovative facility, to be completed in December 2010. <div id="story_image_1403" class="inline-content photo right" style="width: 300px;"> <img src="http://www.news.wisc.edu/story_images/0000/1403/WIDs.jpg" alt=" " /> WARF Trustees John Morgridge, Joan Spero and Kathy Smith sign a beam before it is placed atop the new Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery at a ‘Topping Out’ ceremony held in May 2009. The facility, made possible by gifts from John and Tashia Morgridge, and WARF, will be completed in December 2010. <a href="http://wids.live.acumium.com/link.acux/fe8765c0-9cde-44c5-8b32-98cea5ab32fb/home/discovery/facility/construction-process/Topping%20Out%20Ceremony.cmsx">View and download more high-resolution photos</a> </div> The practice of “topping out” a new building has been traced to the ancient Scandinavian religious practice of placing a tree on the top of a new building to appease the tree-dwelling spirits of displaced ancestors. Members of the Findoff Mortenson construction crew signed the beam, painted white and adorned with a living tree, during a celebratory luncheon and then watched as the beam and tree were hoisted and welded into place atop the four-storey structure. Members of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) Board of Trustees participated in a similar ceremony (<a href="http://wids.live.acumium.com/link.acux/fe8765c0-9cde-44c5-8b32-98cea5ab32fb/home/discovery/facility/construction-process/Topping%20Out%20Ceremony.cmsx">see photos</a>) earlier in the month. Speakers shared some impressive facts about the facility with the approximate 200 workers who took part in the ceremony: • 98% of the materials removed during deconstruction of the prior buildings on the site has been recycled or reused • 564 miles of rebar have been used in construction of the facility • Each of the four floors (one below ground and three above) contains 2,200 yards of concrete and weighs 9 million pounds -- totaling nearly 9,000 yards and 36 million pounds of concrete • 2,200 pieces of structural steel and 210,000 man-hours have been used to build the facility • Worker safety is a top priority on the site with no current lost time due to injury • Construction of the project is on time and under budget On May 26, the construction team of the new Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery held a “topping out” ceremony, traditional in the building industry for recognizing the construction milestone of placing and welding the last beam at the top of a building. Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery celebrate ‘topping out’ 16776 2009-05-28T14:34:00-05:00

2009-05-29T12:16:48-05:00

<div id="story_image_1233" class="inline-content photo span" style="width: 550px;"> <img src="http://www.news.wisc.edu/story_images/0000/1233/WID_webcam09_6101.jpg" alt=" " /> Two remote-controlled webcams, maintained by the Division of Information Technology and mounted on the roof of the Computer Sciences and Statistics building, document progress of different construction sites on campus. The top webcam records <a href="http://widmir-se.datn.wisc.edu/">Phase I construction of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery</a>, a location pictured at the bottom of photograph. The bottom webcam view documents the soon to start <a href="http://unionsouth1.doit.wisc.edu/">demolition and rebuilding of Union South</a>. Photo: <a href="mailto:photos@news.wisc.edu">Jeff Miller</a> </div> Photo: Two remote-controlled webcams, maintained by the Division of Information Technology and mounted on the roof of the Computer Sciences and Statistics building, document progress of different construction sites on campus. Recent sightings: Eyes on UW 16484 2009-03-30T13:25:00-05:00

679

2009-05-04T15:54:50-05:00

left Webcams

image/jpeg

WID_webcam09_6101-t.jpg 241 false 679 12646 160

A team of scientists from the <a href="http://www.morgridgeinstitute.org/">Morgridge Institute for Research</a> at the University of Wisconsin-Madison reports that it has created induced human pluripotent stem (iPS) cells completely free of viral vectors and exotic genes. By reprogramming skin cells to an embryonic state using a plasmid rather than a virus to ferry reprogramming genes into adult cells, the Wisconsin group's work removes a key safety concern about the potential use of iPS cells in therapeutic settings. The new method, which is reported in today's (March 26) online issue of the journal Science, also removes the exotic reprogramming genes from the iPS equation, as the plasmid and the genes it carries do not integrate into an induced cell's genome and can be screened out of subsequent generations of cells. Thus, cells made using the new method are completely free of any genetic artifacts that could compromise therapeutic safety or skew research results, according to the Science report. The new work was conducted in the laboratory of <a href="http://ink.primate.wisc.edu/~thomson/jamie.html">James Thomson</a>, the UW-Madison scientist who was the first to successfully culture human embryonic stem cells in 1998 and, in 2007, co-discovered a way to make human-induced pluripotent stem cells. Thomson, a professor in the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, is also the director of regenerative biology for the Morgridge Institute for Research, the private, nonprofit side of the new <a href="http://www.discovery.wisc.edu/">Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery</a> at UW-Madison. "We believe this is the first time human-induced pluripotent stem cells have been created that are completely free of vector and transgene sequences," says Thomson. The new study was led by geneticist Junying Yu, the Wisconsin researcher who, with Thomson, co-discovered a method for reprogramming adult skin cells to behave like embryonic stem cells, the master cells that arise at the earliest stages of development and that ultimately develop into all 220 cell types in the human body. While the methods first devised for reprogramming adult cells yielded embryonic-like cells, the process resulted in the permanent integration of both viral genes and the genes used for reprogramming into the genomes of the newly induced cells. Such genetic baggage posed safety concerns for potential therapies like cell transplants, and confounded work in the lab, as the introduced genes sometimes spurred mutations that interfered with the normal function of induced cells. The new work was accomplished using a plasmid, a circle of DNA, and cells from the foreskins of newborns. "The plasmids carry all the needed transgenes, but don't integrate into the host DNA, they just float around as episomes" in the cell, Thomson says. The plasmids replicate, but they do so somewhat inefficiently, Thomson explains, so that after they perform the job of reprogramming, they can subsequently be weeded out, leaving the induced cells free of any exotic genetic material. "Once the transgenes have done their job and are no longer needed, one can merely recover induced pluripotent stem cells that have lost their episomes." The resulting cells, says Thomson, are remarkably similar to embryonic stem cells and show the same capacity to proliferate indefinitely in culture and diversify into all the cell types of the human body. "The recent discovery that adult cells could be reprogrammed to iPS cells that resemble embryonic stem cells opened up tremendous potential for regenerative medicine," says Marion Zatz of the National Institute of Health's National Institute of General Medical Sciences, which partially funded the new work. "However, the early methods posed significant risks in using iPS cells in a clinical setting. This latest discovery by Thomson's group of a new method for generating iPS cells without inserting viral vectors into the cells' genetic material is a major advance toward safely reprogramming cells for clinical use." Thomson notes that researchers have developed other promising approaches using mouse cells, and previously had removed most of the vector and exogenous gene sequences from human-induced pluripotent stem cells. However, those efforts did not succeed in removing all of the genetic artifacts of reprogramming, which could still result in mutations in induced cells. "Given the rapid pace of the field, it won't be surprising if there are several alternative methods for producing vector and transgene free cells very soon," says Thomson. "However, it will be essential to determine which of these methods most consistently produces induced pluripotent stem cells with the fewest genetic abnormalities. Any problems would impact research, drug development and possible transplantation therapies." The new viral vector-free iPS cells will be available to researchers almost immediately through the International Stem Cell Bank at the <a href="http://www.wicell.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=19&id=348&Itemid=262">WiCell Research Institute</a>, which also carries the four original iPS cell lines developed by the Thomson lab in 2007. A team of scientists from the Morgridge Institute for Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison reports that it has created induced human pluripotent stem (iPS) cells completely free of viral vectors and exotic genes. Wisconsin, Morgridge scientists excise vector, exotic genes from induced stem cells 16473 2009-03-26T13:13:00-05:00

15157

676

2009-04-08T15:46:55-05:00

169

left Stem cell research

image/jpeg

Cezar_stem_cell_cult07_3698-m-t.jpg 75 false 676 5177 75

Like many overachievers, <a href="http://www.morgridgeinstitute.org/news/index.php?category_id=3700&subcategory_id=5650">Sangtae Kim</a>, who was named last fall to lead the Morgridge Institute for Research, is a calculated taker of risks. He knows chance when he sees it and, importantly, he knows how to size it up. <div id="story_image_1207" class="inline-content photo right" style="width: 370px;"> <img src="http://www.news.wisc.edu/story_images/0000/1207/Kim_Sangtae_WID09_6033.jpg" alt=" " /> Sangtae Kim, director of the Morgridge Institute for Research, enjoys a rooftop vantage point to photograph Phase I construction of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery. Kim was standing on the roof of the Computer Sciences and Statistics building. Photo: <a href="mailto:photos@news.wisc.edu">Jeff Miller</a> </div> “The thing I remember about the corporate world, especially the (industrial) pharmaceutical world, is high risk-high reward,” says Kim, the former Purdue and Wisconsin engineering professor who was named last fall to lead the <a href="http://www.morgridgeinstitute.org/">Morgridge Institute for Research</a>, the private side of the <a href="http://www.discovery.wisc.edu/">Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery</a> (<abbr><abbr title="Wisconsin Institute for Discovery">WID</abbr></abbr>). “I saw firsthand the enormous risks associated with drug discovery and development. Many projects fail.” Kim will certainly draw on his experiences with the likes of Eli Lilly, Pfizer and Parke-Davis, where high-rolling on billion-dollar drugs was the stuff of everyday experience. His latest venture, to be sure, is also a game of chance: sculpting a program for a private research institute with aspirations of not just doing groundbreaking research, but doing it on a continuum that transcends discovery by shepherding the fruits of the laboratory to the end point of delivery to the commercial world. “It’s a high-risk job,” says Carl Gulbrandsen, managing director of the <a href="http://www.warf.org/">Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation</a> (<abbr>WARF</abbr>), the private, not-for-profit organization that manages intellectual property on behalf of the university. <acronym title="Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation">WARF</acronym> and alumni John and Tashia Morgridge are providing the major private funding that makes the new institute possible. An additional $50 million in state support is directed toward the public half of <abbr title="Wisconsin Institute for Discovery">WID</abbr>. “Building something from a blank slate is not an easy task,” Gulbrandsen notes. “But it also is a position of great opportunity. With the risk comes the potential for very high returns.” Many view Kim, “Sang” to friends and acquaintances, as the perfect pilot for the Morgridge Institute. Amiable and soft-spoken, Kim is known for his energy and intellect, his varied occupational experiences, and vast network of contacts. In short, he seems to have all the leadership qualities required to weave disparate academic undertakings — computational science, engineering and biology — into a seamless research tapestry under the Morgridge banner. “Universities are filled with really smart people. But every once in a while you encounter someone who is head and shoulders above the rest,” observes <abbr title="University of Wisconsin">UW</abbr>–Madison engineering physics professor Greg Moses, one of the people who recommended Kim for the job. “He brings together all the different pieces. He walks in all these fields. Any subject you bring up with Sang, he seems to know more about it than anyone else in the room.” Kim is indeed an accomplished academic. Born in Korea and raised in Canada, he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Caltech simultaneously. After obtaining his doctorate from Princeton in 1983, he began his career at <abbr title="University of Wisconsin">UW</abbr>–Madison as an assistant professor and climbed the ranks to a named professorship and chair of what is now the department of chemical and biological engineering. As a professor here, Kim became friends with and established closing working ties with former chancellor John Wiley, who at the time was an administrator at the College of Engineering and who is now the interim director of the public Wisconsin Institute for Discovery. Kim left the university in 1997 to work for major pharmaceutical companies and joined the Purdue faculty in 2003. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. His university pedigree gives him the street credentials he’ll need to engage the <abbr title="University of Wisconsin">UW</abbr>–Madison community in ways that match the sweeping vision of the Morgridge Institute and the larger Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery. Kim’s experience set is rounded out through an 18-month stint at the National Science Foundation, where he led the charge to transform the agency’s national science and engineering information technology network into an integrated system better suited to the modern scientific enterprise. “I think we’re fortunate to have him,” says Gulbrandsen. “He has great academic experience. He has government experience. He has worked in industry.” For now, it is Kim’s academic experience and intimate knowledge of the culture of the big research university — and of Wisconsin’s research landscape in particular — that may serve him best. Morgridge, like its sister institute, the public Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, is intended to be bigger than just a building or a research program. The intent is to make both institutes integral parts of the fabric of the university. “The biggest challenge in the short term is managing the expectations in the scientific community,” Kim notes. “The institute appearing on the scene as a new opportunity leads to a lot of expectations, and the university and state budgets make for a very challenging environment.” On the opportunity side of the ledger, says Kim, is the chance to build on an intellectual property model that is the envy of universities everywhere: “Wisconsin and <acronym title="Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation">WARF</acronym> are viewed as the gold standard for technology transfer. We have an opportunity to take something that’s already been successful and take it to a whole new level.” Art Ellis, a former <abbr title="University of Wisconsin">UW</abbr>–Madison chemistry professor who is now the vice president for research at the University of California, San Diego, and who worked with Kim at the National Science Foundation, says Kim has the background and moxie to forge a new intellectual model in the Morgridge setting. “Sang has a deep understanding of intellectual property and technology transfer that will help him bridge the profound differences in academic, government and corporate cultures,” Ellis says. Kim believes the emerging programmatic structure of Morgridge is the platform that will help the institute, <acronym title="Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation">WARF</acronym> and the university more effectively capitalize on scientific discovery. Now, the plan for Morgridge calls for a central theme of “discovery to delivery.” The discovery platform will be built around two research strengths of <abbr title="University of Wisconsin">UW</abbr>–Madison, regenerative medicine and virology. The element of delivery, Kim explains, involves a chain of opportunity from the point of discovery to application. “Throughout the discovery-to-delivery chain, there are multiple research opportunities,” he notes. The notion of using stem cells as crucibles for drug discovery, for instance, is one that could be supported by engineering new nanoscale surfaces for culturing cells, and bioinformatics research to help predict efficacy and safety. According to Gulbrandsen, Kim’s six-year tour of duty in the pharmaceutical industry lends itself to the research delivery model envisaged for Morgridge: “Between the orphan drug and the billion dollar drug, there are all these unmet needs,” explains Gulbrandsen. “It could be that universities, or philanthropies, or new companies fill that void.” It may also be filled by new kinds of research institutes, like the Morgridge Institute, which are led by polymaths like Kim. Observers agree that Kim is smart, energetic and creative, oozing big ideas. But they also note that by nature he is a friendly and charming individual, disarming qualities in the political cauldron of a research university. “He has a very good manner,” says Gulbrandsen. “He knows how to get where he wants to go without stepping all over you.” Like many overachievers, Sangtae Kim, who was named last fall to lead the Morgridge Institute for Research, is a calculated taker of risks. He knows chance when he sees it and, importantly, he knows how to size it up. For Kim, calculated risk is all in the game 16436 2009-03-24T15:29:00-05:00

2009-03-24T15:33:42-05:00

168

The research direction of the rising Wisconsin Institute for Discovery (WID) is coming into sharper focus as UW-Madison this week (Feb. 20) announced the list of successful pre-proposals for the public half of the new public-private institute. http://discovery.wisc.edu/home/wisconsin/research/list%20of%20themes%20narrowed.cmsx UW-Madison narrows field of potential WID research themes 16313 2009-02-23T09:21:00-06:00

2009-05-13T09:28:26-05:00

The <a href="http://www.wid.wisc.edu/">Wisconsin Institute for Discovery</a> (<abbr title="Wisconsin Institute for Discovery"><abbr><abbr title="Wisconsin Institute for Discovery">WID</abbr></abbr></abbr>) is sponsoring two additional open or town-hall meetings for interested faculty. The first is at 3 p.m. on Monday, <abbr title="February">Feb.</abbr> 9. The topic of that meeting will be “Education and Outreach in <abbr title="Wisconsin Institute for Discovery">WID</abbr>.” The second meeting will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, <abbr title="February">Feb.</abbr> 19, on the involvement of the social sciences, arts and humanities in <abbr title="Wisconsin Institute for Discovery">WID</abbr> programs. Both meetings will be held in the Virginia Harrison Parlor on the first floor of <a href="http://www.map.wisc.edu/?initObj=0032" title="View this building on the campus map">Lathrop Hall</a>. All interested faculty are invited. The Wisconsin Institute for Discovery (WID) is sponsoring two additional open or town-hall meetings for interested faculty. The first is at 3 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 9. The topic of that meeting will be “Education and Outreach in WID.” <abbr title="Wisconsin Institute for Discovery">WID</abbr> plans town-hall meetings 16189 2009-02-20T00:00:00-06:00 2009-02-02T11:14:00-06:00

2009-05-05T15:28:46-05:00

164

Deep drilling begins this week to place 75 bore holes approximately 300 feet below the site of the future <a href="http://www.discovery.wisc.edu/">Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery</a>, marking another first for the interdisciplinary research building project. It is the first research facility on campus to be constructed with a geothermal heating and cooling system. Once the facility opens in fall 2010, the unseen holes sunk deep below the earth's surface will provide an annual 10 percent savings on energy use. More than two-thirds of the funding for the facility under construction on the triangle of land between Campus Drive and the 1300 block of University Avenue comes from private gifts from UW-Madison alumni John and Tashia Morgridge and the <a href="http://www.warf.org/">Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation</a>. The cost of the underground geothermal system, expected to function for at least 50 years, totals $1.25 million. The deep drilling will be completed by the end of 2009, when the facility housing the private <a href="http://www.morgridgeinstitute.org/">Morgridge Institute for Research</a> and the university's public <a href="http://www.wid.wisc.edu/">Wisconsin Institute for Discovery</a> will qualify for a coveted <a href="http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=19">Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design</a> (<acronym title="Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design">LEED</acronym>) certification. <div id="story_image_1021" class="inline-content photo span" style="width: 550px;"> <img src="http://www.news.wisc.edu/story_images/0000/1021/bore-hole-locations.jpg" alt="Illustration showing the location of the bore hols around the perimeter of each building" /> This site illustration shows the location of the bore holes 75 bores holes.(Courtesy: Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.) </div> "The decision to include a geothermal system in the facility design reflects one of the core principles of this project — a commitment to using best practices for sustainable development," says George Austin, building project manager for the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery. Project engineers expect the geothermal system, designed by Affiliated Engineers of Madison, to provide approximately 300 tons of cooling and heating. This capacity can be used continuously for either heating or cooling the building directly, or for optimizing the building's use of the UW-Madison campus district utilities. <div id="story_image_1023" class="inline-content photo right" style="width: 350px;"> <img src="http://www.news.wisc.edu/story_images/0000/1023/DetailofBores01HR.jpg" alt="Cross-section detail of typical bore hole" /> Diagram of a typical bore hole for the WID site. </div> "Geothermal systems provide heating and cooling for buildings by using the mass and relatively constant temperatures of the earth as either a heat sink or source," says Austin. Subsurface conditions determine the effectiveness of a geothermal system. With its placement between two lakes, Austin says, the site of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, as well as Madison in general, is ideal for this type of sustainable energy system. "With both the prevalence and movement of below ground water, the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery site possesses exceptional subsurface conductivity for a geothermal system," he says. Each bore serves as a "heat exchanger" to allow the transfer of heat to or from the earth when cooling or heating the building respectively. This heat exchanger is coupled to the building mechanical systems through a heat pump chiller, which uses electrically powered compressor technology to balance a portion of the building's internal load. The heat exchanger uses the geothermal heat sink to make up the difference between the building's internal heat gain and load. In other words, the system reuses the heat that is not needed in one part of the building and distributes it where needed in other parts of the building. Other unique features of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery include: <ul> <li>An architectural design specifically intended to facilitate interactions and collaboration between the resident researchers.</li> <li>Easily changeable research laboratories built to accommodate a wide range of research activities and to allow for quick conversion of lab space for uses ranging from synthetic chemistry to developmental biology to computer science. This feature is intended to allow, within the facility itself, maximum collaboration between the various scientific disciplines.</li> <li>Housing within a single facility for a public research institute, the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery that is part of the Graduate School and a private, not-for-profit research institute, the Morgridge Institute for Research. No public money will fund the portion of the facility housing the Morgridge Institute for Research.</li> <li>The addition of teaching laboratories on each research floor for use in introducing students of all ages to the excitement of scientific research.</li> <li>A first-floor public space named the Town Center. Like the rest of the building, this space is designed to accommodate a wide range of activities and will offer a restaurant, coffee shop and soda fountain, as well as space for meetings, symposia, education and quiet reflection. It is designed for researchers from across campus and the general public to mingle and share ideas.</li> <li>A commitment to "green" and sustainable building design and operation and a philosophical approach toward the facility and institutes as living experiments. </li> </ul> In addition to this geothermal system being the first to be used in a research facility at UW-Madison (a residential system was installed during the recent reconstruction of Olin House, the official residence of the UW-Madison chancellor), this installation also demonstrates that such a system can be used effectively on a constricted urban site. The site of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery has a very narrow perimeter bordered by busy thoroughfares. The narrowness of the site made this project unique since regulations of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources restrict the construction of vertical borefields to the outside of a building's footprint. The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery is a unique public/private initiative designed under one roof to facilitate interdisciplinary research and breakthrough discoveries to improve human health. Made up of the private Morgridge Institute for Research and the public Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, the new facility will open during the fall of 2010. Deep drilling begins this week to place 75 bore holes approximately 300 feet below the site of the future Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, marking another first for the interdisciplinary research building project. Deep drilling begins for Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery geothermal system 16110 2009-01-06T09:02:00-06:00

14985

<h2>Live Web cam views of the site</h2> <a href="http://widmir-se.datn.wisc.edu/view/index.shtml">Southeast</a> <a href="http://widmir-nw.datn.wisc.edu/view/index.shtml ">Northwest</a>