High tech Center for Informatics groundbreaking May 28 at NKU
Construction on the highly anticipated Center for Informatics at Northern Kentucky University starts this month with a groundbreaking ceremony 4:30 p.m, May 28 on the Highland Heights campus. The state -of-the-art center, seeks to combine technology, available data and real world application to a wide variety of occupations. NKU’s College of Informatics, the only such college in the state, was created by an act of the Kentucky Legislature. In the fall of 2006, 1,057 entered the college under various disciplines. In addition to new offerings like informatics, the college puts a number of NKU’s existing disciplines under one roof. It includes four departments: Business, Communication, Computer Science and Infrastructure Management. It includes such diverse disciplines as journalism, healthcare, computer programming and research development design. It’s one of less than a dozen such colleges dedicated specifically to informatics study in the United States. “Thursday, May 28, 2009, will be one of the most important dates in the history of our college, now and into the future,” said Douglas Perry, dean of NKU’s College of Informatics. “It is a moment that NKU and our region have been looking forward to for a long time, and we’re very excited to get started on this breathtaking facility.” The event will start in the Student Union Ballroom, followed by the official groundbreaking ceremony outside near NKU’s Parking Lot B. The 110,000-square-foot facility, designed by lead architect Goody Clancy and local architecture firm McGill Smith Punshon Inc., is made up of a central Informatics Common and "digitorium," flanked on two sides by four-story loft-style academic buildings. This space will house a "genius bar" complete with a multi-discipline technology help desk, research flex space, and a café. Within the common is the two-story glass digitorium, the fully reconfigurable technological heart equipped with audio/visual technology using high-quality LED, digital projection, and intelligent digital displays that allow users to watch, interact with, create and share information. The digitorium's transparent skin is designed to reflect the center's purpose by allowing those outside to witness human interaction, the most basic – yet most complex – of information sharing systems. The center will also be the first ‘green’ campus building, designed for LEED Silver certification. The $50.8 million center is set to open in 2010. Writers: Feoshia Henderson and Kevin LeMaster
