USF's new $27 million research building set to open this week

TAMPA, Fla. - The University of South Florida's research laboratories are packed with inventors. Beatriz Anacio is in a Lab searching for a better way to make capsules. 

"A technique where we can encapsulate things very easily," said the chemical engineering junior who is working for a friend’s small company. 

USF now ranks eighth in research among the nation’s public universities, but lab space here is tight. The new $27 million research park building set to open Wednesday could open a new era of invention.

"As our faculty and students are in the labs we have those ‘Aha moments’ and we make those discoveries," said Sylvia Thomas, USF’s interim VP of Research and Innovation. 

The three story, 121,000 square foot building is to be divided among research companies in industries like medical, biotech and semiconductor. 

"There is nothing a company coming to our community would need that we can’t accommodate in this building," said Allison Madden, director of the USF Research Foundation. 

With a single pass air system using chilled water and UV lights, air that could be contaminated in labs isn’t recirculated in the building. It’s constructed especially for research. 

The rooftop commons has seating that overlooks Uptown, which stands to benefit most directly from the growth.

Right now 1,200 people work in USF’s research park, which hasn’t seen a new building since 2005. They’re hoping to add 300 to 500 more jobs as they fill up the building. 

USF officials believe companies will benefit from the brain power of faculty and students. 

"And then we transfer those discoveries into things that are patentable," said Thomas. 

Patents from ideas refined in USF laboratories can bring part of the profits back to the university. USF’s newest building may bring, not just new ideas, but also new dollars.