Picture left to right, Herb Klein and Eric Stephens, Brooks
City Base; William Scouten, dean of UTSA College of Sciences;
David Donovan, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's office. A friendly
handshake to mark the continuing partnership between Brooks
City Base and UTSA.
Work begins on UTSA Bioprocessing and Biotechnology Center at Brooks
(August 8, 2002)—The University of Texas at San Antonio and Brooks City Base have begun renovation and construction plans for a facility where both military and civilian personnel will learn to handle vaccines, biosensors and other biological products.The Center for Excellence in Bioprocessing and Biotechnology is part of an educational partnership agreement between UTSA and the Air Force Institute for Environment, Safety and Health Risk Analysis, located at Brooks. Under the agreement, UTSA will provide staff and some equipment for the 8,000 square- foot facility, while the Air Force will provide the building and equipment and personnel, who will be trained to work in similar biomedical facilities around the world. Both UTSA and the Air Force will have a teaching role in the training of both Air Force personnel and civilians.
The Senate has passed appropriation bills with more than $2 million dollars for construction costs and equipment for the center, thanks to the efforts of U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“This facility will conduct research that could be used after a bioterrorism attack, and to meet natural disease outbreaks such as influenza and tetanus," said Hutchison.
Construction should begin this month, with completion scheduled for late spring 2003. Classes and research activity will get underway next fall.
The new facility will help meet San Antonio’s goals for a technologically sophisticated workforce that can attract other businesses to the area. When not used for training, the facility will be used to research both new training methods and new production techniques.
San Antonio is under consideration as a possible site to house a $1.5 billion national vaccine production facility that is being proposed by the U.S. Department of Defense. The UTSA/Brooks Center for Excellence in Bioprocessing and Biotechnology could provide San Antonio with an advantage in what promises to be vigorous national competition for the federal vaccine production facility.
“The Bioprocessing Center will be a wonderful joint enterprise between the university and the Air Force, supporting San Antonio’s efforts to attract a national vaccine production facility to our community, ” said William Scouten, dean of the UTSA College of Sciences.
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
Parking routines change with Academic III Building constructionPitman named treasurer-elect of state CPA society
Academic III construction will temporarily disrupt parking
UT System Board of Regents approves two UTSA Ph.D. programs
Work begins on UTSA Bioprocessing and Biotechnology Center at Brooks
New fiscal year brings UTSA parking changes
Tri-Campus community invited to Week of Welcome events
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© The University of Texas at San Antonio, 2002