New Chemistry Facility to Enhance Research Efforts

In real estate terms, Malika Jeffries-EL’s current laboratory in Gilman Hall could have been described as a “fixer-upper.”

“When I walked in four years ago, the walls were discolored by water leaks. There were huge cracks and salt deposits throughout,” says Jeffries-EL (pictured), assistant professor of chemistry and the Gregory L. and Kathleen C. Geoffroy Faculty Fellow.

An influx of $20,000 in renovations has improved the work environment in Jeffries-EL’s laboratory. “It’s definitely much better than it was when we moved in,” she says. Sometime in 2010, Jeffries-EL is scheduled to upgrade from her “fixer-upper” to a corner office in Hach Hall, the new $74.5 million chemistry facility being constructed adjacent to Gilman Hall. The switch from Gilman to Hach will be like night and day for Jeffries-EL and other Iowa State University chemists.

“The spaces in Gilman can be comfortably described as out-dated,” she says. “The new space in Hach will be custom designed for today’s chemists.

“Gilman Hall was built to address the needs of chemistry of that day. My own field, conjugated polymers, started 30 years ago and the labs in Gilman weren’t designed with this field in mind.”

Now instead of having laboratories spread throughout a building, Hach Hall is designed to create synergy by having labs for the same research team adjacent to another. But more than anything else, the flexibility of the laboratory space is what appeals to Jeffries-EL and her colleagues.

“Gilman Hall, like all older chemistry buildings, has fixed cabinetry,” she says. “The water and gas lines and the benches are all fixed to the floor so we can’t move anything around.”

That’s not the case in Hach Hall. Water and gas lines will be constructed through the ceiling. Only the hoods and sinks will be permanently attached. That flexibility will allow research groups like Jeffries-EL’s the ability to stand at benches rather than sit on stools. On the other hand, biological chemists’ work requires them to sit, rather than stand. Hach Hall’s design allows for that flexibility.

Additional storage space will be provided. State-of-the-art equipment can now be utilized with the new electrical capabilities of Hach Hall.

In her current space in Gilman, Jeffries-EL doesn’t have enough floor space to utilize a glove box for her research. That will change in Hach Hall. Her laboratories will also be connected rather than spread out.

Hach Hall’s design will also include separate workspaces for graduate students adjacent to the lab.

“Graduate students basically reside in the lab,” Jeffries-EL says “Right now their desk space is in the lab and because of safety regulations, they aren’t even allowed a cup of coffee in the space.

“With the new building they will be able to work at their desk and still monitor each laboratory area. I think we’ll be just that much more productive in our day-to-day work.”

Hach Hall was just a dream when Jeffries-EL was hired four years ago. Now each day as she comes to work, she can view the construction progress of the new facility.

“With each new finished project renderings I get more and more excited,” she says. “But what’s even more exciting is that my colleagues and I have an opportunity few chemistry professors ever will: the opportunity to design a laboratory space for our particular needs.”