(Above) Jared Harzan, a graduate student in chemistry, adjusts equipment in the new BioLaunch lab. (Below) The new lab has leading-edge technology. (Photos by Todd Duermyer)
September 30, 2024
SIU to dedicate $7.2M BioLaunch lab with Oct. 4 ribbon cutting, tours
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois University Carbondale will dedicate the $7.2 million BioLaunch lab, a new, 10,000-square-foot space for cutting-edge life sciences research and more, at 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, with a public ribbon-cutting ceremony at the McLafferty Annex, 1785 University Press Drive, with tours of the facility to follow.
Funded in part by a $2.7 million grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Wet Lab Program, BioLaunch is the newest addition to the Illinois Food, Entrepreneurship, Research, and Manufacturing (iFERM) Hub, a state-of-the-art research and training suite for faculty use, students, start-up companies and private firms in the region.
BioLaunch, which contains a biotechnology core, an analytical core, a mass spectrometry core and a business annex, is the first of three major construction projects for the building. The others are a full-scale production brewery and a value-added agriculture pilot facility. In addition to BioLaunch, McLafferty Annex houses the Fermentation Science Institute; the Center for Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, and an ultra-fast laser facility.
BioLaunch and other projects are the result of a collaboration with SIU’s Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, SIU’s Fermentation Science Institute and the SIU Research Park.
Watch a video about BioLaunch.
Media availability
SIU officials will be available for interviews about the scientific and economic impact of BioLaunch after the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
