Ideation Workshop on an Advanced Instrumentation Development Center in the Physical Sciences and Engineering Building

May 29, 2020

An Ideation Workshop on an Advanced Instrumentation Development Center (AIDC) in the Physical Sciences and Engineering Building (PSEB) was held on Zoom on May 22, 2020.   About 80 participants from across campus, including representatives from West Campus, the medical school, engineering, and basic sciences attended the meeting, which was led by the PSEB Instrumentation Initiative Task Force co-chairs Lisa D’Angelo and Karsten Heeger.  A full agenda for the workshop is here.

The meeting began with an update from the PSEB instrumentation initiative task force given by D’Angelo and Heeger.  This task force has been charged to develop and propose a vision for an instrumentation and technology development center in support of the instrumentation initiative identified in the University Science Strategy Committee (USSC) report from 2018.  The update included the goals of the workshop, the background of the development of the initiatives and opportunities being considered by the task force, a preliminary vision for an advanced instrumentation development center, and a call for input from the community into what such a center can and should look like at Yale to enable cutting-edge research connecting to the science priorities of the University.

At the beginning of the task force update, University Provost Scott Strobel made a few remarks thanking the committee for its considerations and for organizing this workshop, and thanking the community for attending and taking seriously what the future of physical sciences and engineering will look like at Yale.  Strobel said that the University remains committed to this project and that, due to COVID-19, the timeline for the project is likely to be delayed a bit, but not so much that we should not continue the planning.  He said the work of the task force and the outcome of this event will have a direct impact on the building that gets built, including on the design of the building and what gets put inside it.  He encouraged the community to “keep at this, because this really matters”.

After the introductory talk, the floor was opened for questions and comments.

The discussion was paused to begin the eleven lightning talk presentations from Yale PIs and lab leaders, highlighting connections between research, instrumentation development, and science priorities at Yale.  A list is below and slides can be found on the agenda page.

After a second period of discussion, Vice Provost for Research Michael Crair closed out the meeting, thanking the committee for organizing the event and thanking all of the participants.  He said that the symposium demonstrated that there is much work to be done in the future and many brilliant ideas to consider.

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