New Research Greenhouse Complex Most Sophisticated in North America

Computerized systems record data and adjust conditions for individual plants

Manager John Korns (center) leads visitors on a tour of new greenhouse complex prior to its opening.

The university's new Research Greenhouse Complex is a gardener's dream. It can automatically do almost everything plants need to grow, except manufacture the sunshine that pours in through its glass roof. Even then, its computers can do plenty to make up for a drizzly day.

Perched on a hill behind the Comcast Center, the $16 million complex is the most sophisticated research greenhouse facility in North America. In its 70,000 square feet, university researchers now have the help of computerized systems that can replicate almost any type of growing condition to study a variety of environmental and greenhouse management issues.

John Korns, who came to Maryland from private industry to manage the greenhouse, says it rivals the best research greenhouses in the commercial sector. "Researchers can program all of their requirements into the computer and monitor or change them from a computer at a remote location, any time, from anywhere in the world."

The complex has its own weather station, for consistent environmental control, and is the only place in North America that can deliver a custom mix of water and fertilizer to each plant. Sensors can tell when a plant needs water and give it a drink. They can tell when it's too hot and automatically lower the temperature.

The greenhouse is a prototype for data collection, says Korns. Computers record all the data in one place and print it out on demand. And it's environmentally friendly. Water conservation measures reduce water use, and automated pesticide fogging systems protect humans from exposure to chemicals.

Research space in the Research Greenhouse Complex is primarily for Maryland faculty, but joint ventures and contractual use can be discussed. "With our ability to tie into other locations, the joint venture possibilities are endless," says Korns.

Biomaterials Lab Engineers Artificial Tissues

Researchers are using tissue engineering to build "scaffolds" to implant healthy cells that help in healing.

Anew biomaterials laboratory in the Clark School of Engineering is using scientific principles from both engineering and the life sciences to help develop new medical treatments for ill or injured patients. "Our expertise is in characterizing cell function on synthetic materials, so as to develop artificial tissues and organs," says John Fisher, an assistant professor of chemical engineering who is director of the new lab. Fisher joined the engineering faculty last fall after earning his doctorate in bioengineering from Rice University and undergraduate degrees in both chemical engineering and biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

Biomaterials and tissue engineering are rapidly developing areas within bioengineering, Fisher says. Much of his research uses polymer science methods to devise and synthesize degradable polymers, long-chain molecules that when exposed to an aqueous environment--like that found in the human body--will slowly and safely degrade over a period of time. These degradable polymers can be fabricated into "scaffolds" and filled with healthy cells, creating an implantable artificial tissue that promotes faster healing.

To accomplish this, scientists must understand how cells function within these synthetic materials, and this is a major focus of the biomaterials lab, Fisher says. For example, in the case of a knee injury--where the articular cartilage is disrupted or torn--doctors may soon use new techniques to implant a living tissue made of synthetic polymer material and donor cells. "Cartilage has a very minimal capacity to heal itself," Fisher explains. "We want to be able to implant a tissue-engineered device that facilitates the regeneration of this lost tissue."

The body would slowly absorb the device's synthetic material over time, without the risk of infection or other adverse consequences, while the implanted cells produce tissue to regenerate the damaged cartilage.

Initial seed funding for the new laboratory comes from the Clark School as part of its newly established bioengineering degree program. Fisher adds that interactions with researchers and physicians within the medical school at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, have already set in motion the lab's goal of regenerating lost or damaged tissues.

National Weather Forecasting Center Joins New Research Park

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, is the latest tenant to sign on with the University of Maryland Enterprise Campus, also known as M Square--a 128-acre research park adjacent to the university near the College Park-University of Maryland Metro station.

NOAA plans to build a new multi-million dollar state-of-the-art facility that is specifically designed for climate and weather operational forecasts and related research. "We are excited about the potential in front of us and are expecting great things to happen with the participation of the academic community, specifically the University of Maryland, to improve all weather and climate forecasts," says Louis W. Uccellini, director of the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Prediction.

Brian Darmody, the university's assistant vice president for research and economic development, says that M Square offers the opportunity for Maryland, the top public research university in the mid-Atlantic region, to effectively connect the intellectual capacity of its faculty and graduate students with large and small companies, government laboratories and other specialized centers.

The research park already has 128,000 sq.-ft. leased, Darmody says, including the recently announced Center for the Advanced Study of Language, a joint university-Department of Defense project that will conduct groundbreaking research to support the nation's critical need for increased capabilities to understand and translate languages. At full build-out, it is expected that more than 2.5 million sq-ft. of research space and 6,500 people will occupy the M Square site.

Warnings that Work

Ever since 9-11, people in the United States have hungered for information about potential health and security risks, says University of Maryland communication professor Linda Aldoory. But she says consumers have approached these messages with a great deal of wariness, which got her wondering: "How have people negotiated all this information--especially when they receive mixed signals?"

Aldoory now has a chance to answer this and other research questions as head of Maryland's new Center for Risk Communication Research. "There are other centers for risk analysis, but this is one that focuses on risk communication," Aldoory says. "We'll cover food, health, environmental and security risks."

The center was organized last September with funding from the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, a University of Maryland-U.S. Food and Drug Administration collaboration, and with support from the university's Department of Communication. Now the center is actively seeking grants and fellowships to fund research.

Aldoory is especially interested in applied research evaluating how federal, state and local agencies have been communicating risk. But she also hopes the center will do research on how the public perceives risk and handles warnings, as well as big picture research on how social and political factors affect the way the public hears these warnings.

Funding Approved for New Bioscience Research Building

Architectual drawing depicts new bioscience research building that will house state-of-the-art lab modules for the Departments of Biology and Cell Biology, as well as laboratories specializing in plant development, flow cytomety (the measurement of cell characteristics) and bioinformatics.

The state of Maryland recently approved $55.8 million in capital funding for a new bioscience research building at the University of Maryland, a major step forward in the university's goal of providing regional leadership for education and research in the biosciences. The planned 138,500 sq. ft. facility--slated for completion in late 2006--will offer research space for as many as 35 principal investigators, with many of the new laboratories designed for flexibility to accommodate changes in research.

"Fabulous discoveries about the nature of life are being made every day in the biosciences," says Norma Allewell, dean of the College of Life Sciences. "This building will have tremendous impact on our ability to recruit and retain outstanding faculty members, as well as offer outstanding academic programs in this enormously exciting area."

The university's bioscience programs have already made significant contributions to the state's important biotech industry, and the new research facility will be a key toward further progress, says Dennis O'Connor, the university's vice president for research and dean of the Graduate School. "Without a first-rate facility, you can't be involved in the kind of current science that translates into the commercial sector," O'Connor says.

Currently, the university helps to educate a skilled work force that is necessary to keep the state of Maryland's biotech industry thriving. Also, emerging startup companies turn to the university for its expertise and ideas through programs like the Maryland Industrial Partnerships, or MIPS, program, as well as the Technology Advancement Program, or TAP. Since 1984, TAP has graduated 25 bioscience-related companies that have generated approximately $380 million in investments and more than 625 new jobs.