Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for its Robotics Innovation Center (RIC), a facility for the research, development and testing for robotics.
The 150,000-square-feet facility will be located in the Hazelwood Green development in Pittsburgh and will feature reconfigurable high bays, an open-layout wet lab, spaces open to the community and public art displays, a 50,000-square-foot indoor robot test facility, and a 1.5-acre, large-footprint outdoor lab with a 6,000-square-foot drone cage.
In addition to research, CMU’s STEM education programs and initiatives will be held in the building. Programs include K-12 education such as These Girls of Steel Robotics, the Robotics Academy and Engineering Ambassadors.
“When combined with thoughtful programs and policies to support K-12 education and workforce training, and fueled by Pittsburgh’s spirit of resiliency and self-determination, the new Robotics Innovation Center will cement Pittsburgh’s national and even world leadership in robotics,” Sam Reiman, CMU Board of Trustees member and Richard King Mellon Foundation director and trustee, said. “And that, in turn, will have ripple effects for Hazelwood and our entire economy.”
The Richard King Mellon Foundation provided a $45 million lead grant that will be used to build the facility.
Construction is expected to complete in 2025.