The University of Delaware will hold a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday for a six-story, 200,000-square-foot research facility at the University of Delaware’s STAR Campus.
The site will house the national headquarters for the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL).
An advisory stated that the institute aims to accelerate progress in the biopharmaceutical industry by advancing manufacturing processes and developing the next generation of workers. The site will also complement UD-led life science research and technology programs.
The building is slated for an early 2020 opening.
The state’s congressional delegation and UD officials are expected to be on hand for the event.
In December of last year, then U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker announced $70 million would go to the new National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL), the 11th institute in the Manufacturing USA network.
It is the first institute with a focus area proposed by industry and the first funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC).
The announcement was made at the University of Delaware, which will coordinate the institute in partnership with DOC’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
In addition to the federal funding, the new institute is supported by an initial private investment of at least $129 million from a consortium of 150 companies, educational institutions, research centers, coordinating bodies, non-profits and Manufacturing Extension Partnerships across the country.
The six-story structure will join a high rise currently going up at STAR, the former Chrysler plant site.
