One of the farthest buildings from the main campus is also striving to be the most far-reaching.

While some research labs are not finished, Stephenson Research and Technology Center is already welcoming faculty, students and university guests into the new facility. Located near Lloyd Noble Center off Jenkins Avenue, the $27 million research center is part of a group of buildings known as the "research campus."

Lee Williams, vice president for research and dean of the graduate college, said the problem with some new buildings is that once you have everything set in one place, you cannot adapt to changes and are stuck with a layout that does not work. He said the research center will not have that problem because nearly everything is moveable, including the cubicle walls and the laboratory "islands."

"This building can change and adapt as the research changes," Williams said. "This building is very flexible with research labs."

Williams said the new center also has several chemistry laboratories, a 20-by-20-foot "robot playground" and will have a zebra fish lab completed by this summer. Currently there are two research groups housed in Stephenson, with the most recent moving in two weeks ago.

The main area of the interior of the building resembles a social lounge with flat screen televisions and an upstairs cafeteria. Williams said this is to encourage conversations between students and faculty from different areas of study.

"A lot of the exciting research takes place at the boundaries of disciplines," he said. "The whole building is designed to give students the opportunity to meet and discuss ideas. A university is the perfect place for that. We want students to go out and use this collaboration."

Ruihua Shi, biochemistry graduate student, said the facility is a great area not only to research, but also to socialize.

"We have a lot more space than before," Shi said. "It's easy to communicate and the cafeteria is really good for getting to talk to each other."

However, there are also areas designed for specific studies. Three supercomputers in the Oklahoma Supercomputing Center for Education and Research allows meteorologists to have detailed models to predict weather, said Fred Carr, director of the School of Meteorology.

"We've made good use of the center and OSCER. We're very excited," Carr said. "We look forward to partnering with people in Stephenson and other research groups."

Another part of this research deals with studying the human genome. Bruce Roe, chemistry and biochemistry professor, said the research center gives the study more room to work and the ability to work more easily with other researchers.

"[Stephenson] gives us an open research environment to collaborate with other areas," Roe said. "I think that the future holds that chemistry and other science disciplines will move to this area. This will become a very strong, scientific area."

One school that deals with all of these areas is the School of Computer Science. Through technology, students can both work on developing software and participating in research, said John Antonio, director of the School of Computer Science. He said this center is a great way for the university to recruit faculty and students.

"Students don't want to be just involved in their own discipline," Antonio said. "They want to work in teams. They love interdisciplinary work."
hello there & you too