Environmental and energy research lab awarded $7.1 million for renovations
Contacts:
Preston Smith, University News Service, smith@umn.edu, 612-625-0552
Maia Homstad, St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, homst004@umn.edu, 612-624-6283
Rhonda Zurn, College of Science and Engineering, rzurn@umn.edu, 612-626-7959
Original lab built in 1938 as a project of the Works Progress Administration
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (9/21/2010) –The St. Anthony Falls Laboratory (SAFL), an interdisciplinary research unit of the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota, was recently awarded $7.1 million from the National Science Foundation to renovate its facility on Hennepin Island.
The grant is awarded via the Academic Research Infrastructure program (funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009), which invests in the repair and renovation of existing research facilities. The University of Minnesota will contribute an additional $8.7 million for critical renovation costs not eligible for the NSF funding from the University's appropriation from the Minnesota Legislature earlier this year for critical repairs and infrastructure needs of existing buildings. The renovation costs will total nearly $16 million to revitalize the aging lab.
For more than 70 years, scientists from around the world have been drawn to SAFL to work on innovative solutions to the world’s environmental, water resources, and energy-related problems.
Built in 1938 as a project of the Works Progress Administration, the SAFL building was originally funded by the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act passed by Congress in 1935. After seven decades the lab is showing its fair share of wear and tear, but the new stimulus grant will bring it full circle, rehabilitating a deteriorated infrastructure and enabling critical new research on energy and environmental sustainability.
“This is a historic moment for SAFL and the University of Minnesota,” said Fotis Sotiropoulos, SAFL’s director and lead researcher for the grant. “Since its inception, the laboratory has been a leader in science-based solutions to major environmental and energy related problems through research, education, and outreach. This renovation will enable us to continue and expand our leadership role well into the 21st century.”
The lab intends to use the funding to enhance existing facilities and expertise toward improving wind-power efficiency and reliability; optimizing water-power energy devices and assessing their environmental impact; expanding biofuels research focusing on algal bioreactors; enhancing environmental restoration and management, including streams, rivers and deltas; and to allow researchers, practitioners, and a broad spectrum of learners to participate in SAFL through cybercollaboration and virtual experiments.
To learn more about the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, go to www.safl.umn.edu.