OSU will request $25 million from the Oklahoma Legislature to build an engineering research center as a solution to problems recently caused by the construction at Boone Pickens Stadium, said Gary Shutt, director of communications.

The vibrations from the construction machinery make vibration-sensitive research projects in the Advanced Research Technology Center basement impossible, said Alan Tree, associate dean for engineering research.

The projects in the basement are in the scientific category known as nano-science, an area of science that emerged in the past ten years, which deals with nanometers, Tree said. To put a nanometer’s size into perspective, one billion make up a meter.

Shutt said because of the sensitivity of nano-science, it is essential that the work be done in the proper environment. “Research is one of the missions of a land-grant university,” Shutt said. “The important work being done by CEAT in nano-technology is a priority for OSU.”

The vibration problem affects about 40 students — some working on projects to earn their doctorate and master’s degrees — and about eight professors, who each have more than one project, Tree said.

Solutions for what to do until the center is built have been discussed, such as the closing of Hester Street once the construction by the stadium is finished in 2008, Shutt said.

“As part of the construction on the west end zone over the next two years, we will build the road and ramp north of the ATRC that will lead into the west end zone,” Shutt said.

“Once the road is built we will do additional testing to evaluate the impact of vibrations, if any, on the research. If there is a problem, traffic will be limited or halted until the research is moved to a new location,” he said.

Tree said when the ATRC was designed 10 years ago, the designers knew traffic on Hester Street would be one cause of vibrations.

To block those vibrations, part of the ATRC extends deeper than the basement of the building and further to the north and south, Tree said.

“What that does is it creates a large air pocket that shields us from Hester Street,” Tree said. “The issue (of vibrations) has come up recently because we had not anticipated that Hester Street would curve around and be on the north side of the building.”

Along with the change in Hester Street, the ramp built to service the west end of the stadium wasn’t expected by the designers of ATRC either, Tree said.

“Someone who isn’t well-versed in nano-science may not realize that a semi-truck going up a ramp will affect the vibrations in a nearby building,” Tree said.

Alan Cheville, an electrical engineering associate professor, said although there are solutions to end the vibrations when the construction is completed, not much has been decided for what to do right now.

“Basically we work as best we can but there really is no short term solution,” Cheville said. “There’s millions of dollars of equipment that we can’t move. We don’t have a place to put it.”

Special tables that adjust to vibrations could be purchased, but they cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and might not solve the problem. And the projects can’t simply be moved to another laboratory because building space is expensive, at hundreds of dollars per square foot, Cheville said.

“For the faculty who are very active in their research field – they’re in high demand,” Cheville said. “If things become too difficult, they can just leave.”

Faculty members have contracts with government agencies and companies who pay about $1 million to have research done, Cheville said.

If a place becomes problematic for the research the scientists must perform, they find other universities at which to do their work.

When faculty leave the university, students usually follow, with the university losing out, Cheville said.

Tree said the researchers who work in the basement are world renowned scientist and the research pertaining to nano-science leads the field worldwide.

Cheville said one of the research groups he’s involved with makes electronic chips for computers, dealing with wires that are one hundredth the size of a human hair.

“When you’re trying to do the process, things have to be very, very stable because any kind of vibration can cause errors in wires of that size,” Cheville said.

Tree said faculty from both the engineering and athletics departments have worked on the problem along with university administration.

Tree said new facilities mean possibilities for even better research.

Before coming to OSU, all of the professors working in the basement facilities were well-established and highly respected researchers elsewhere, Tree said.

“Part of the reason we were able to attract them here was because the ATRC was in the works,” Tree said. “There was a commitment here to facilities they needed and we’ve continued that commitment with this decision.”