The Texas A&M University System has broken ground for a building at its new RELLIS campus on an former air force base near Bryan.
The Battalion student newspaper reports that the Center for Infrastructure Renewal will be the first RELLIS building. It will provide a place for students to collaborate with industry professionals and researchers on projects that require facilities larger than what is available on the main A&M campus.
“I don’t know of another building this size with this diverse a research focus in the country,” Dean of Engineering Katherine Banks says. “We’re looking at infrastructure as a whole, not just one aspect of it."
RELLIS is an acronym for the six core values of A&M — respect, excellence, leadership, loyalty, integrity and selfless service.
The research and development campus will consist of seven buildings and testbeds that will be available for research performed by students and those in the private sector. The expected completion date is 2018.
The campus is being built on the former Bryan Air Base, a 2,000-acre World War II facility west of the main Texas A&M University campus in College Station. A&M acquired the base in 1962.