I'm workin' on a building.
I'm workin' on a building.
I'm workin' on a building.
For my Lord, for my Lord.

-traditional American folk song

The structure described in the tune above is obviously a church, and while there isn't an actual house of worship being raised on Clemson's campus, the ongoing building and renovation effort almost has a religious fervor about it.

Recent visitors will have noticed that the Calhoun Mansion is being refurbished, and Littlejohn Coliseum, Memorial Stadium, and Hardin Hall are all getting facelifts.

Johnstone is in the initial stages of demolition, while the Agricultural Biotechnology/Molecular Biology Complex is nearing completion. There's a lot going on. What is less apparent to the casual observer, though, is the effort underway within the College of Engineering and Science (CoES) to secure new or newly-renovated research space.

Over the last three years, research awards have grown from $34.3M in fiscal 1999-2000, to over $52M this year. While this sort of performance represents significant effort and exceptional performance on the part of the college's faculty and staff, this growth means that research space within the college is now at a premium, and there are several projects underway designed to address those needs.

The South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA)
SCRA is pursuing the goal of creating a presence at the Clemson Research Park to support the work of the Applied Research and Development Institute (ARDI) and meet the needs of the Clemson University research community. The 84,000 sq. ft. two-building facility is designed to support the research activities of Clemson's College of Engineering and Science as well as provide administrative space for SCRA. The South Carolina Research Authority will oversee construction and then provide space to Clemson on a leased basis.

Two tenants of the new facility will be Electronic Imaging and Analytical Services (EIAS), and COMSET, the Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies. The buildings will be designed to accommodate a variety of functions including an electron microscope facility, wet and dry laboratories, clean rooms, and administrative, office and classroom space. Construction begins in July, with occupancy slated for the summer of 2003.

Sometime next summer, Electronic Imaging and Analytical Services (EIAS) will move into the new SCRA building. This summer, though, the staff is busy making several major equipment upgrades.

There is an Hitachi FB-2000A Focused Ion Beam unit, which will be used primarily for sample preparation. The samples will be used on the new Hitachi HD-2000 Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope, which has a magnification of 5,000,000X.
"We're very fortunate to be able to bring this capability to the university," observed Bill Kay, EIAS director. "No university in the southeast has the tandem capabilities inherent in the HD-2000 and FB-2000A." These upgrades reflect an investment exceeding $2.3 million.

The Griffith Building
Right now the Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering (COMSET) is housed in the Griffith Building, which is located in Pendleton, SC. Owned by the Clemson University Research Foundation (CURF), and initially unfit even for warehousing, the College of Engineering and Science has renovated this space for research.

"Griffith is a real success story," stated John Finn, director of administration and external affairs. When the building was donated to CURF, 18,000 sq. ft. of space had to be completely and thoroughly cleaned. To date 8,000 sq. ft. have been modernized to create office and lab space which houses lasers and microscopes. Approvals are being finalized for upgrading the remaining 10,000 sq. ft. for a draw tower and conventional wet labs.

"I'm proud of what we've been able to accomplish at Griffith," observed Finn. "Upon completion of these final upgrades, we'll have an efficient, exceptionally cost-effective facility."

Holtzendorff Hall
Over the past year and a half, Earnest has reported on renovations taking place in Holtzendorff Hall, which is becoming home to general engineering classes and labs.

Although the Holtzendorff upgrades aren't directly related to research space, moving general engineering functions there will free up space in Riggs Hall. Holtzendorff renovations began with the construction of a design project laboratory, followed by collaborative computer classrooms. Next, the old "Y" theater was beautifully preserved and reworked to serve as classroom space for ENGR 101, Introduction to Engineering. Now the lobby has undergone a transformation including paint, lighting and carpeting.

"We continue to hope that Holtzendorff will one day become the general engineering center," said Ben Sill, director of general engineering. "The new lobby will make an attractive and convenient place for visitors to gather as they visit the College of Engineering and Science."

Funds have been earmarked for exterior upgrades that will leave Holtzendorff looking as good on the outside and it does on the inside.

ARTS
The Asphalt Rubber Technology Service (ARTS) is looking forward to moving into its new lab and office facility sometime this summer. The new 6,000 sq. ft. facility is being completed in the Ravenel Research Park.

ARTS is a research entity representing a coalition made up of South Carolina's Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), Clemson University and the City of Clemson. ARTS promotes the practical utilization of waste tire rubber in hot mix asphalt, as well as other civil engineering applications through research, training, education and information services. Rubberized asphalt and crumb rubber can be used in a number of ways - pavement, embankments, retaining walls and fill.

Civil/Textile Building
A much-anticipated and long-discussed project, the new civil engineering/textile building continues to move forward. At press time, an architectural firm was being selected to begin the programming phase of the project. "Programming" calls for creating design goals and objectives based on research and instructional needs inherent in the diverse fields of civil engineering and textiles. An important aspect of programming is determining how the new facility fits in with the global perspective set forth in the master plan for campus development. Partial funding ($6M) is in hand for the project, and Governor Hodge's current budget proposal seeks an additional $23.9M. While the exact site hasn't been chosen, plans call for the building to be erected somewhere between Earle Hall and Perimeter Road.