The building is located at the University of Houston’s Energy Research Park, a 74-acre space just minutes from UH’s campus. When fully developed, the park will serve as the center of the university’s energy–related research and education.
The building was made possible thanks in large part to a gift from Houston-based ConocoPhillips, which made a $1 million gift commitment to UH and the Energy Research Park in 2011 and intends to follow up with gifts of $1 million in both 2012 and 2013.
At the ribbon cutting ceremony, Joseph W. Tedesco, Elizabeth D. Rockwell Dean of the Cullen College, thanked ConocoPhillips, “for this incredible gift, one that is mutually beneficial to the UH Energy initiative and our Petroleum Engineering Program as well as the ever-growing energy community in the city of Houston.”
The facility, which opened to students in January of this year, boasts three classrooms, three undergraduate teaching laboratories, a computer lab, three faculty and graduate research laboratories, faculty and student offices, and a student lounge.
The new building is the first to have an official grand opening at the Energy Research Park, noted UH System Chancellor and UH President Renu Khator. With continued support from individuals and industry, the park could well become a major asset for the city of Houston and for the global energy sector, she said.
“One day, this place, this Energy Research Park, could have the same vitality, the same innovation, that you find in the Texas Medical Center. This could be the hub where public, private and academic sectors merge together to create something that cannot be created without that kind of synergy.”