Renovation of Old Power Plant Building (Engineering Research Building 43)

美国国家科学基金会的58万美元资金将由德州理工大学提供，用于跨学科等离子体和脉冲功率研究项目的研究设施翻新。这座建筑对受影响的研究人员很重要，因为它为物理和电气工程的实验提供了独立而独特的设施。将空间与教室和行政用途隔离对于涉及高噪音和电气干扰的实验非常重要，这些实验有时会持续数天，每天24小时。这座有60年历史的建筑将被彻底翻新，移除所有污染的石棉，修复漏水的窗户和屋顶，安装新地板，部分二楼，新的暖通空调系统，一个高架起重机和一个大的入口（装载）门。翻修后的大楼将提供一个专门的设施，用于进行在大学很少进行的研究，因为它会干扰大学的其他正常功能。该项目每年获得约200万美元，是校园内最大的研究项目。支持来自各种联邦机构和行业。该研究主要针对高功率活动，包括工业和军事应用以及美国宇航局的月球和行星任务。该设施将用于在未来10-30年内研究发电，调节以及空间和地面任务应用所需的跨学科工作，并将使12名教职员工，3名博士后，30名研究生和10名本科生受益。* * *

NSF funding of $580,000 will be equally matched by monies from Texas Tech University for the renovation of research facilities for the interdisciplinary Plasma and Pulsed Power Research Program. The building is important to affected researchers, because it provides separate and unique facilities for experiments in physics and electrical engineering. Isolation of the space from classroom and administrative uses is important for experiments which involve high levels of noise and electrical interference and which sometimes continue for 24 hours/day over several days. The 60-year old building will be completely renovated for removal of all contaminating asbestos, repair of leaking windows and roof, installation of new flooring, a partial second floor, a new HVAC system, an overhead crane and a large access (loading) door. The renovated building will provide a dedicated facility for conduct of research that is seldom undertaken at universities, because of the interference with other normal university functions. The program receives approximately $2M per year and is the largest research program on campus. Support comes from a variety of federal agencies as well as industry. The research is directed primarily at high power activities, including industrial and military applications and NASA lunar and planetary missions. The facility will be used for the interdisiplinary work required for studies in power generation, conditioning, and applications for space and terrestrial missions in the next 10-30 years and will benefit 12 faculty members, 3 post docs, and 30 graduate and 10 undergraduate students. ***