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11-21-2006 Long-awaited groundbreaking for IPMB/ABRC new "Agricultural Technology Building"
Preparing not with shovels but with tropical fruits and candies, as well as inspirational words and a name for their 21st-century research facility of dreams -- Agricultural Technology Building -- colleagues of IPMB and ABRS, a cast of PIs and staff of the construction company officially broke ground for their new research facility, Tuesday. "This represents the next step in the transformation and development of the IPMB and ABRC, on and off the Academia campus," said IPMB director Tuan-hua David Ho.
The building will sit next to the aged IPMB building and face the IPMB greenhouse. The groundbreaking ceremony took place next the right-side pine forest of the IPMB research building and in front of the IPMB greenhouses. Present were an assortment of academic "big wigs", including Director Ho; Na-Sheng Lin, director of ARBC; and Ning-Sun Yang, former director of ARBC.
The event marked the countdown to 2009, when the building will be completed. The edifice will consist of four floors for the main research facility of ARBC and three floors for IPMB expansion -- 10,980 m2 of seven floors aboveground and a two-floor basement in a state-of-the-art building. The facility will also host the offices of the National Science and Technology Program for Agricultural Biotechnology.
"The 21st-century IPMB and ARBC deserve a home befitting an emerging plant and agricultural biotechnology dynasty, and we will have that," said Na-Sheng Lin. "This new facility will be more than a workplace -- it represents ARBS's partnership with IPMB and our mutual commitment to improving research and service to the public." |
