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Posted 11/13/97
Case Western Reserve University's biomedical engineering department, whose graduate program is consistently ranked among the top five in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, is about to get a boost, thanks to a $900,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to renovate the department's home in the Wickenden Building.
The NIH grant will help support a $6 million project to remodel the building's laboratories, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and electrical systems. Construction is expected to begin next spring and renovations will take about two years. The Ohio Board of Regents and CWRU engineering alumnus W.R. "Buck" Persons are also contributing support.
"The NIH grant is a testimony that the University's biomedical engineering program is viewed as very strong academically and scientifically," said Kenneth Kutina, CWRU vice president for institutional planning and principal investigator for the NIH grant.
In 1968, CWRU became one of the first universities in the nation to create an academic department in biomedical engineering. External research support for the department increased 57 percent from $2.3 million in1992-93 to $3.6 million in 1995-96.
The biomedical engineering field has played a major role in developing devices and instrumentation that reduce morbidity and mortality related to disease and trauma. Advances in cardiac pacemakers, vascular grafts and stents, neural prostheses, and diagnostic systems are a few examples of these contributions. Renovation of CWRU's biomedical engineering facilities is essential to help achieve these breakthroughs that reduce healthcare costs and provide better diagnosis and treatments.
The renovation is expected to help the biomedical engineering department continue to attract outstanding faculty and quality students, while enhancing its reputation as one of the nation's leading departments in biomedical engineering education and research.
The department is also strengthening its research and education initiatives with a $3 million grant from the Whitaker Foundation for research training and $1.5 million from other sources for new equipment.
"First-rate laboratories are necessary to attract excellent researchers and graduate students which enhance the department's productivity and reputation," Kutina said. "This is the most important factor in terms of return on investment."
Built in 1955, Wickenden is beginning to show its age. Research laboratories and classrooms need upgrading, along with the building's internal systems that supply electricity and air, and control temperature -- elements that are critical for today's cutting-edge biomedical engineering research.
Refurbishing the building's infrastructure is extremely important for the biomedical engineering department, according to Kutina. Many of the instruments need good temperature control to minimize adverse influence on research measurements. The biological and chemical research requires a clean environment. New transformers, switches, main circuits, and electrical feeds will help make research more productive by eliminating shortages, interruptions, and variations in power.
Although the goal is to upgrade and add space within the building, Wickenden will get an aesthetic makeover as well. The lobby will be expanded and enhanced by knocking down the wall leading to the stairwell, making it easier for visitors to find where they are going. The department's offices will be relocated to the third floor, along with classrooms for undergraduate teaching and laboratories. The building also will get new windows to improve insulation and to keep out dirt and debris. This will create a cleaner environment for research.
Wickenden was originally built to house electrical engineering activities, not to support research in biomaterials, imaging, electrophysiology, tissue and cellular engineering, and computer modeling, according to Kutina.
The renovation will allow the biomedical engineering department to hire additional faculty because there will be more space for research laboratories, Kutina said.
Fully renovating a building is usually half the cost of replacing it, he noted.
"When you do the renovation the way we are doing it, Wickenden will be as good as a new facility. We have carefully examined Wickenden's structural aspects and exterior to make sure this is a wise investment," he said. "It is a sound building and it is well laid out, but it needs this update."
The University is nearing the end of an era of constructing new buildings as cited in its 1988 master plan, Kutina said. Now CWRU will direct its energies at upgrading existing facilities.
"The renovation will be difficult because the building is totally occupied, and we want to minimize interference with classes and research," Kutina said. "We will do the work in phases and use some of the vacant space on the first floor of Sears Library for offices and computer-based laboratories."
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