On 07 August 2003, the City of Phoenix City Council Education, Culture and Genomics Subcommittee held a joint meeting with the Tempe City Council Culture and Community Programs Committee and the Tempe Tourism and Economic Development Committee. One of the topics on the agenda was titled Phoenix Bioscience Center at Copper Square and Arizona State University Biodesign Institute. This posting contains notes from the meeting.
Jonathan Fink, VP Research and Economic Affairs, ASU
Dr. Jonathan Fink of ASU started his presentation by stating that university research can derive economic benefits. He indicated that we have been a "one-trick pony" relying primarily on the micro-electronics industry operating in a state where tourism plays a critical role in its economic well-being.
Dr. Fink displayed a graph that shows the amount of grant money available from the NSF (National Science Foundation) and Arizona's take on that amount. The ratio did not look good and provided strong evidence of missed opportunities -- opportunities that are not going to go away anytime soon. In other words, NSF funds are going to be available and Arizona needs to start getting its fair share.
ASU's Biodesign Institute has three areas of research: Biotech, Nanotech, and Infotech. Biotech is on the front-lines thanks to genomics and bioinformatics. Nanotech is a decade or two away. Biotech and nanotech cannot happen without infotech. Dr. Fink made it clear that Dr. George Poste has the abilities to make the Biodesign Institute a success.
Fink provided pictures of what ASU's campus may end up looking like a few years in the future. All the new biotech buildings are going to be smart buildings. Building #4 is going to be adjacent to the proposed light-rail which connects to TGen's downtown Phoenix campus.
Dr. Jeffrey Touchman's name was mentioned multiple times. Touchman is with both TGen and ASU. Touchman, working with NAU, sequenced the Arizona plague genome.
I was glad to hear that Dr. Touchman is how TGen plans to connect with the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD).
ASU's new Institute for Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering (ICISE) was mentioned along with the fact that it will be located in leased space at the Brickyard complex on Mill Avenue in Tempe.
A question about IP (Intellectual Property) was asked, but this topic was too huge to address given the forum. TGen and ASU both made it clear that IP is a complex and important issue that they are allocating lots of time to.
Jan Schaefer, Economic Development Manager, Tempe
I was happy to hear Ms. Schaefer say something about the Tempe Techie Tuesday and that they have been having ASU Professors as speakers. I have been able to attend some of these Techie Tuesdays and I hope ASU continues to participate in these events.
I am hoping TGen will be doing some lunch-time brown bag seminars at ASU's downtown campus and that these seminars will be open and free to the public.
Ms. Schaefer indicated that the Tempe.gov website is an able and willing hyperlinker to biotech resources and assets.
Jason Harris, Phoenix Bioscience Center Development Manager, Phoenix
The IGC/TGen facility is located in downtown Phoenix. It is adjacent to the Arizona Center to the west and ASU's Downtown campus to the south. The City of Phoenix provided an excellent set of handouts that show how the IGC/TGen facility is a logical component of their downtown.
Mr. Harris indicated that the IGC/TGen location is home to three historic Union High School buildings and that they will be treated with respect.
The Phoenix Bioscience Center involves "1 million square feet of building development."
Richard Love, Chief Operating Officer, TGen
Love told us that TGen is constantly reminded that it all reduces down to economic benefits. But he said that TGen is on-track and that its rapid start-up has not been an accident. We have had many talented scientists move to the Valley of the Sun. TGen and ASU are doing a good job getting along. Love indicated that there were numerous grant applications being worked on and it will be good if a few of them are awarded. He also indicated that it is nice having the TGen/ASU/IBM high-performance computing system.
As of June, 2003, the TGen/ASU high-performance computing system was the 65th most powerful in the world. Congratulations. [ Top500.org::Top 500 List 06/2003]
TGen is collaborating with all three of Arizona's universities. Love, when asked about how TGen's efforts can propagate down to all Arizona schools (K through life) he mentioned that it is already happening with the community colleges.
Mr. Love mentioned Dr. Trent to remind us the ultimate goal is to translate research into real-world objects that will improve the quality of life world-wide.
When asked what scientists look for when moving to a new physical location, Love responded "other scientists."
Author: G.D.Thurman
[gdt@deru.com]
Created: 08 Aug 2003