The 15th annual Laboratory Design Conference was a triumph. Hundreds gathered in Houston from April 25-27 for the educational and networking event to converse with colleagues involved in the planning, design, engineering, construction and operation of laboratory facilities.
Days were filled with special keynote addresses, such as Texas native Brantley Hightower of HiWorks, who opened the conference by giving an architectural tour of the Lone Star State. Breakout sessions were led by industry experts, ranging in topics from retrofitting, to energy concerns, to designing the lab of the future. Specialty focuses, such as fume hoods, forensic laboratories, and steam sterilizer design were also discussed.
Aside from thought-provoking sessions with speakers, attendees were also able to visit the exhibit hall in their free time to mingle and exchange business cards.
The conference concluded with the grand event—the 2016 Lab of the Year winners unveiling! The judges have spoken and the results were announced by Advantage Business Media’s Editorial Director, Science Group, Bea Riemschneider, while ABM, Science Group’s General Manager Albert Guffanti presented the awards. The international competition receives entries from the best new and renovated laboratories. Eligible projects represent a wide variety of laboratory types, including research, quality assurance/control, teaching, software development, environmental, clinical, forensic, and testing and standards. Judging for this year’s competition took place in February and was conducted by a blue-ribbon panel of laboratory architects, engineers, equipment manufacturers, researchers and the editorial staff of R&D Magazine and Laboratory Design.
This 50th annual international competition seemed to have favored academic institutions, as three universities snagged the awards. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Electrical & Computer Engineering Building grabbed the prestigious Lab of the Year award. Cornell University, Kimball Hall Renovation in Ithaca, N.Y. garnered Renovated Laboratory of the Year award. While Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Building for Personalized Cancer Care – MD Anderson in Houston received Special Recognition for Design.
R&D Magazine congratulates all of the winners!
Anna Spiewak
