Where does the working name “Building X” come from?
John Pelesko, dean of UD’s College of Arts and Sciences, led the
building planning team, which included chairs and faculty from the
departments of biological sciences, psychological and brain sciences,
and physics and astronomy, along with Research Office and FREAS staff.
As a mathematician, Pelesko naturally likes to solve problems — the
“x,” which stands for an unknown quantity in equations, helped to
inspire the working name.
"Calling it ‘Building X’ makes it clear that this was a blank slate,
that is, what it would be was unknown at the start of the planning
process, and that this was an opportunity to reimagine what a modern
science laboratory building could be and how it could be organized,”
Pelesko said.
The building will help UD solve a number of pressing space challenges
driven by growing programs and new faculty hires, and it will expand
the University’s research horizons.
“This facility is going to solidify the future of our science
enterprise at UD,” Pelesko said. “It is absolutely core to our advancing
science.”
Research in the building will focus on three interdisciplinary
themes, Pelesko said. On the top floor, research teams organized under
the theme of mind, brain and behavior, including students in the new neuroscience program, will delve into mental health topics, including depression, addiction and emotional disorders.
On the second floor, studies of the models and mechanisms of human
disease, from Alzheimer’s to infertility, will complement more applied
research underway at the Ammon Pinizzotto Biopharmaceutical Innovation Center on UD’s Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus and UD’s new master’s program in biopharmaceutical sciences. A bridge will connect this floor to the Center for Biomedical and Brain Imaging to allow researchers and study volunteers easy access to elite scientific instruments such as the fMRI, which provides a harmless, non-invasive way of revealing brain regions that are active during a particular task or emotion.
The first floor and the basement will bring together physicists,
materials scientists and biophysicists to explore quantum science and
technology, probing the properties of atoms and molecules and assemblies
thereof, to spur development of revolutionary new materials and
devices. UD recently joined the Mid-Atlantic Quantum Alliance and has launched a new graduate program in Quantum Science and Engineering, with the first cohort having started this fall.
The basement also will house research “core facilities” including a new satellite location to UD’s world-class Bio-Imaging Center,
providing new tools for cell and tissue imaging, as well as
laboratories for the fabrication and characterization of advanced
materials — all available for use by researchers across campus and by
industry partners.