USF News and Development

[TampaMike]

Thought the university needed a main thread to discuss any news or developments on its campus. The USF Downtown Medical Building can still remain in its own thread, but I think it would be better if we had most of the discussion in one main thread.

Thanks.

[TampaMike]

Draper Lab expanding at the USF, a sign its collaborative business strategy works
By Robert Trigaux, Times Business Columnist
In Print: Sunday, June 12, 2011

Skeptics wondering what the fuss is all about when Tampa Bay fights to recruit top-tier biotech and engineering firms might find some comfort in touring the still young Draper Bioengineering Center at the University of South Florida. After all, for years we've heard all the noise about "biotech" as a primo 21st century industry. And we've witnessed the sometimes desperate (and often expensive) desire by Florida to woo all kinds of scientific and innovative industries. The hope is they can, over time, help diversify Florida's economy with better-paying jobs and globally help rebrand the Sunshine State as a place that conjures up images beyond beaches, theme parks and retirement communities.

So come take the Draper tour with me.

The Draper facility on USF's campus is part of Draper Lab out of Cambridge, Mass., whose engineers specialize in taking university research and finding often remarkable ways to solve real-world problems with it. Draper's especially adept at taking machines and miniaturizing them. I'm talking about making objects small enough, for example, to inject in someone's bloodstream to help deliver a medicine directly to a cancer site. Draper does many other things, too.

I recently was invited to visit Draper at USF by Draper executive Len Polizzotto. He's the dynamo who helped bring Draper to this Tampa facility and St. Petersburg (where it does high-tech manufacturing in its own building).

I'd wanted to see Draper's USF operation first hand. Polizzotto thought the timing was good because Draper, operating barely two years at USF, is doubling its space by adding another 10,000 square feet of labs and offices to accommodate a growing number of collaborative projects. Those projects range from finding new ways to combat malaria — funded in part by the Gates Foundation — to detecting and analyzing brain injuries such as concussions and war wounds or post traumatic stress syndrome, and engineering devices that help people who have lost the ability to balance themselves to do so and even walk.

I also met with Shankar Sundaram, 42, who directs Draper's bioengineering center. He was hired in early 2009 specifically to run this facility. That task not only includes making sure his scientific staff is on track and getting the resources they need, but also seeking collaborative partners as diverse as USF, Tampa's James. A Haley VA Medical Center and the Moffitt Cancer Center, as well as MacDill Air Force Base.

"Collaboration is one of the main pillars of our business strategy," Sundaram says. "We realized early on that we cannot be an island and be successful."

This collaborative mantra is critical. USF's Karen Holbrook, who holds the lofty title of senior vice president for research, innovation and global affairs, stopped by the Draper labs to chat and convey her enthusiasm for the firm's arrival on the university campus and the merit of partnering in a wide swath of potential projects.

There are clearly good vibes between USF and Draper. USF knows there are many things it cannot attempt to do without Draper's can-do engineering (and enormous contacts in the federal government and defense world). And Draper readily admits to many opportunities it can pursue only with USF research.

Enough talk about this lovefest. But there is an infectious quality to watching smart, experienced people talk about tackling big, real-world problems with almost childlike wonder and a sense of optimism.

Of course, Draper did not arrive here without elaborate negotiations and funding. The state and counties offered up money and, in turn, Draper said it would create better-paying jobs, enough to make everybody happy.

How's that going?

In Tampa, Draper's got 20 full-time employees, plus seven undergraduate and graduate students and is seeking to fill six positions.

Thirty employees now work at Draper's multichip module manufacturing building on 16th Street in St. Petersburg. That brings the total Tampa Bay work force to 50-plus with an average salary of about $84,000 (that's 12 percent above Draper's target). The value of proposed Draper projects tops $80 million.

Given this weak economy, all those numbers deserve some applause and bode well for growth. USF and Draper already are talking about the possibility of building a separate facility to accommodate further Draper expansion, if enough partnerships happen.

But recruiting firms like Draper is no picnic.

Another biotech heavyweight called Jackson Lab, which does genetics research in Maine, tried several times in multiple Florida locations to establish a research facility here in the past few years. It finally agreed to build a research unit in Sarasota County that would have worked with USF (and probably Draper). The deal collapsed in recent weeks after Florida's budget-constrained government could not deliver on its share of incentive funds. Last week, Jackson Lab said it would seek to expand elsewhere in the country.

Polizzotto, who now oversees Draper's Florida business development opportunities from the firm's Cambridge headquarters, is a one-man advertising agency for the potential in Tampa Bay and at USF. He rattles off a long list of projects Draper wants to pursue here — especially an energy innovation center.

Why is he such a cheerleader?

Because, Polizzotto says, he sees wide-open acceptance and a refreshing lack of ego from Florida economic development leaders and from USF.

That matters a lot, he says, when you're trying to solve some of the world's toughest problems.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/busines...rategy/1174690

[HARTride 2012]

Originally Posted by TampaMike

Thought the university needed a main thread to discuss any news or developments on its campus. The USF Downtown Medical Building can still remain in its own thread, but I think it would be better if we had most of the discussion in one main thread.

Thanks.

You beat me to it Mike! I was thinking to do the same last week lol.

And we can have one place for projects occurring on all four campuses. Although its probably going to be a slow ride for Lakeland since Rick Scott's veto pen dissolved funding for the Lakeland campus for the meantime.

[HARTride 2012]

Since I've been at USF's Tampa Campus, the following buildings have been finished.

*School of Music (completed during Spring, 2011)
*Juniper-Poplar Student Housing Hall
*Patel Center for Global Solutions (completed during Fall, 2010) - Now houses the administrative offices.

Still under construction
*Interdisciplinary Sciences Building

[GOOT]

Plus the long list of athletic facility improvements, which includes the Sun Dome renovation.

[TampaGuy]

USF-St. Pete is constructing the Multipurpose Student Center which should be complete by fall 2012.



Harbor Hall (former Dali museum) should be being renovated
Campus Activities Center should be being renovated and expanded soon


Edit:
I think the render showed might be an old version, the one on their construction page looks different. http://stpete.usf.edu/aboutusf/construction.htm

[HARTride 2012]

I would like to point out that among the improvements to the athletics department this past year include new baseball and soccer stadiums, practice fields, and of course the Sun Dome expansion.

And I'd also like to point this out.....guess who they're naming the new soccer stadium after? Hint Hint, Rowdies ring any bells?

http://www.usforacle.com/new-soccer-...amed-1.2600735

[TampaMike]

Here's today's article on the new Interdisciplinary Science Building. Didn't know they had to halt the construction of the 7th floor of this building because of Scott's wrath of hell against universities and education in general.

http://www2.tbo.com/news/education-n...her-ar-252960/

I have a friend that goes to the new gym at the campus, says that it has been busy all this week and sometimes difficult to get on the bench or another equipment.

[GOOT]

Originally Posted by TampaMike

I have a friend that goes to the new gym at the campus, says that it has been busy all this week and sometimes difficult to get on the bench or another equipment.

We have 12 flat benches now... I've been there every day this week and have always seen one of them open. He must go at peak times, I suppose.


Anyways, the campus improvements have been AMAZING. They added fountains and other beautification things at the main entrance and lined sidewalks with trees throughout campus. I've been here 2 years and the amount it has changed is incredible.

[Jasonhouse]

It really has improved. And when the timeline is 10 or more years, the changes are even more dramatic.

[HARTride 2012]

Originally Posted by GOOT

We have 12 flat benches now... I've been there every day this week and have always seen one of them open. He must go at peak times, I suppose.


Anyways, the campus improvements have been AMAZING. They added fountains and other beautification things at the main entrance and lined sidewalks with trees throughout campus. I've been here 2 years and the amount it has changed is incredible.

I agree. The changes have been phenomenal. When I took a campus tour back in 2006, the new Marshall Center was still under construction (the old one was a dinosaur indeed). I guess with all the cuts that Gov. Skeletor made, I guess that we will not see any other expansions in the next 5 to 8 years unless they are largely privately funded.

[Szemeredy]

Originally Posted by HARTride 2012

I agree. The changes have been phenomenal. When I took a campus tour back in 2006, the new Marshall Center was still under construction (the old one was a dinosaur indeed). I guess with all the cuts that Gov. Skeletor made, I guess that we will not see any other expansions in the next 5 to 8 years unless they are largely privately funded.

It's my understanding that USF is going to look toward P3 and donations to continue development of the campus master plan. Per the master plan, all new structures will be at least 3 stories tall with empty floors for future buildout if funding is not immediately available at time of construction. Three new parking facilities are in planning stages, located as close to arterials as possible (Alumni & Maple, Alumni & Sago, Holly & Magnolia).

I could be wrong, but I believe that two major structures will begin construction this year: the Institute for Heart Health at Bruce B Downs Blvd & Holly Dr and the Undergraduate Classroom and Support Building in place of the northern end of Collins Blvd. The latter is why all the improvements on Collins Blvd stop abruptly next to LIB and why the Bull Runner stop was moved from ADM to ENC - the road is to be truncated back to Apple Dr in the very near future to allow for construction. After that, things will slow down until 2015.

Originally Posted by DShenise

I love the dinosaur comment. You missed when the bookstore was basically a warehouse with an attached loading dock. It was good times back in the early-mid nineties. MLK plaza was just a big open field with a couple concrete paths through it. Canopies and shading, those are wimps, give me direct sun exposure and reflected heat off concrete and asphalt.

This is one of the things I hated about USF when I was a freshman back in 2002. Nothing but open fields and asphalt, no trees anywhere. What they've done in the span of a decade is nothing short of amazing.

The new MSC has the derogatory nickname of "The Airport." It's not somewhere you'd want to hang around as a student, which is something SG has been trying to fix since it opened. It has tons of classroom, ballroom, theater and restaurant venues, but nowhere comfortable to actually hang out and socialize. The lobby is too busy/loud, a large chunk of the student body doesn't want to hang out in the Beef 'O' Brady's, and the Sky Pod and commuter lounges are too small and cramped for what they are. It just doesn't compare to the old MC, which stuck WBUL, a massive gaming lounge/billiard hall/concert venue and SG computing together in one central location in the basement and had a nice, quiet lounge on the first floor.

[DShenise]

I love the dinosaur comment. You missed when the bookstore was basically a warehouse with an attached loading dock. It was good times back in the early-mid nineties. MLK plaza was just a big open field with a couple concrete paths through it. Canopies and shading, those are wimps, give me direct sun exposure and reflected heat off concrete and asphalt.

[HARTride 2012]

Since we've been talking so much about the developments with the Tampa campus, and on a lesser degree, the Lakeland campus, I thought it would be appropriate to begin posting photos (soon) of the St. Pete campus. Since I am having 2 classes on the St. Pete campus this term, I will be able to snap a few pics here and there of that particular campus.

Although there isn't a lot going on there at the moment, they are building a new facility that will house the student union and another residence hall. I find the first residence hall to be pretty neat as it is. Also the Poynter Library is very quiet compared to the Tampa library.

[DShenise]

You just don't know the right places in the Tampa Library. I once fell sound asleep for four hours in the bound journal section. I would appreciate the SP Campus pics though. I did my undergrad there from 91-93, before grad school at the Tampa Campus. I hope the monolith statue is still there on the waterfront. That and the Tavern on the Asphalt. The Tavern was always fun on Thursday nights after class before heading to the Big Catch.

[Szemeredy]

Originally Posted by DShenise

You just don't know the right places in the Tampa Library. I once fell sound asleep for four hours in the bound journal section. I would appreciate the SP Campus pics though. I did my undergrad there from 91-93, before grad school at the Tampa Campus. I hope the monolith statue is still there on the waterfront. That and the Tavern on the Asphalt. The Tavern was always fun on Thursday nights after class before heading to the Big Catch.

My quiet spot was on the 6th floor in the multimedia section, before it became a storage facility. Not a sound to be heard, plus the computers were always available and the view from the windows was awesome.

[HARTride 2012]

Originally Posted by DShenise

You just don't know the right places in the Tampa Library. I once fell sound asleep for four hours in the bound journal section. I would appreciate the SP Campus pics though. I did my undergrad there from 91-93, before grad school at the Tampa Campus. I hope the monolith statue is still there on the waterfront. That and the Tavern on the Asphalt. The Tavern was always fun on Thursday nights after class before heading to the Big Catch.

I will agree. Some parts are quiet. The 1st floor is the particularly crowded area.

[TampaGuy]

Wow, the USF St.Pete student center is looking a lot better than I thought it would, I didn't realize it had a glass facade. I'm impressed.

[HARTride 2012]

Man, you beat me to it! LOL!

It does look good though. My last day on campus was last Tuesday and they were already beginning to put up the windows on the north side.

It was definitely a different feel taking 2 classes on the St Pete campus this past term. It has a small campus feel, but the USF Bulls spirit of the Tampa campus. I unfortunately will not be taking classes there in the spring (all of my classes will be on the Tampa campus), but I'll probably come back to snap some photos during Spring Break or something.

[DShenise]

I miss the days when campus had about four buildings, Tavern on the Green was the place after classes got out at 9, the cafeteria sold nuclear hot steak fries and a mean fried burger, and you had a good shot at free parking on a surrounding street. I spent two years there and never bought a parking pass!

Dan