J.J. Pickle Research Campus
Encyclopedia
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
is owned and operated by the University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
. It is located in northwest Austin, approximately nine miles (14 km) north of the main UT campus and just south of the The Domain
The Domain (Austin, Texas)
The Domain is a high-density business, retail, and residential center operated by Simon Property Group and Endeavor Real Estate Group, and is located in the high-tech corridor of northwest Austin, Texas. It is bordered on the west by Union Pacific Railroad, on the west and north by Loop 1, on the...
. The 475 acre (1.9 km²) site is bordered on the north by Braker Lane, on the west by US 183, and on the east by Burnet Road / FM 1325
Farm to Market Road 1325
Farm to Market Road 1325 is a roadway located in Travis and Williamson counties of Texas. Along much of its length it is referred to as Burnet Road.- History :...
. The Missouri Pacific Railroad
Missouri Pacific Railroad
The Missouri Pacific Railroad , also known as the MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers, including the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway , Texas and Pacific...
and Loop 1 (also known as Mopac Blvd.) both run through the middle of the site.
History
The original site was only 402 acres (1.6 km²) and only extended as far west as the railroad. It was originally a magnesiumMagnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...
plant during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and was owned by the United States government. Following the conclusion of the war, the site was declared surplus, and UT engineering professors C. Read Granberry
C. Read Granberry
Collier Read Granberry was the first Parliamentarian of the Texas House of Representatives.He was born in 1899 in Austin, Texas where he spent the majority of his life as a teacher and civil servant. Granberry served as Parliamentarian of the Texas House of representatives for nineteen sessions...
and J. Neils Thompson sought to lease and eventually purchase the site for the University. The lease agreement was reached in 1946, and certain research projects began to be moved to the new campus.
In 1949, with the help of then-Congressman Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
, the University purchased the site, now named the Off-Campus Research Center (OCRC), from the federal government. In 1953, it became the Balcones Research Center, so named for the Balcones Escarpment which runs through that part of the city.
Over the years, the University continued to develop the campus, whose tenants made significant contributions to research in the areas of defense, nuclear physics
Nuclear physics
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies the building blocks and interactions of atomic nuclei. The most commonly known applications of nuclear physics are nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons technology, but the research has provided application in many fields, including those...
, and space flight. It received a clear title to the property in 1971, and in 1974 purchased another tract of land west of the railroad, bringing the site to its current area.
The University again renamed the campus in 1994, this time for former Congressman and UT alumnus J. J. Pickle. When he was Austin's congressional representative, Pickle was instrumental in bringing major research efforts to the campus. Pickle died in 2005.
Campus
The Pickle Research Campus is not a full college campus: there are no dormitories, and most classes held there are for working professional programs (such as the Executive Masters program). Other than normal campus operations and a cafeteria / conference center, it is strictly a research facility.Due to the sensitive nature of some of the research being done at the PRC, it is also a closed campus. On a normal weekday, access to the campus is restricted to University students, faculty, and staff with parking permits, as well as expected guests. After hours or on weekends, access is restricted to approved personnel only. A shuttle runs between the two campuses on weekdays. Many students and some faculty/staff, especially those living in north Austin, opt to park at PRC and ride the shuttle due to the limited parking on the main campus.
Today, the campus houses approximately 100 buildings. Many of the campus's original 29 buildings, most of which were built in the early 1940s, are still in use today. The vast majority of the campus is contained on the original site. Additionally, part of the west tract between Loop 1 and US 183 has been leased to retailers such as Office Depot
Office Depot
Office Depot is a supplier of office products and provides many services. The company's selection of brand name office supplies includes business machines, computers, computer software and office furniture, while its business services encompass copying, printing, document reproduction, shipping,...
.
In 2003, the UT System
University of Texas System
The University of Texas System encompasses 15 educational institutions in Texas, of which nine are academic universities and six are health institutions. The system is headquartered in Austin and has a total enrollment of over 190,000 students...
Board of Regents and Simon Property Group
Simon Property Group
Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American commercial real estate company, ranked #1 in the United States as the largest real estate investment trust. Simon is a fully integrated real estate company which operates from five retail real estate platforms: regional malls, Premium Outlet Centers, The...
reached a $130 million lease agreement under which Simon would build a shopping mall on 46 acres (186,000 m²) of unused PRC land along Loop 1 and across from another Simon Property Group venture - The Domain. Construction on the Arbor Walk began in 2005, with its first retail stores opening in October 2006.
Despite all this, a significant amount of the campus remains undeveloped. While there are roads throughout the campus, many of them border empty plots of land. UT administrators have announced plans to eventually develop the PRC into a full-fledged campus, but they are only preliminary. Visitors will also observe numerous bluebonnets, the Texas state flower, at the PRC. They are visible outside the campus from Burnet Road, but can be found in various places throughout the site.
Research departments
- Applied Research Laboratories - One of the first and largest departments to be located at the PRC.
- Bureau of Economic Geology - The oldest research unit at UT and the Texas state geological surveyGeological surveyThe term geological survey can be used to describe both the conduct of a survey for geological purposes and an institution holding geological information....
. - Texas Advanced Computing Center - Operates the Ranger supercomputerSupercomputerA supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
, which ranks 5th in the world. - Nuclear Engineering Teaching Lab - Operates a fully functional nuclear reactorNuclear reactorA nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
. - Center for Aeromechanics Research - Houses a supersonicSupersonicSupersonic speed is a rate of travel of an object that exceeds the speed of sound . For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C this speed is approximately 343 m/s, 1,125 ft/s, 768 mph or 1,235 km/h. Speeds greater than five times the speed of sound are often...
MachMach numberMach number is the speed of an object moving through air, or any other fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance for its particular physical conditions, including those of temperature and pressure...
5 wind tunnelWind tunnelA wind tunnel is a research tool used in aerodynamic research to study the effects of air moving past solid objects.-Theory of operation:Wind tunnels were first proposed as a means of studying vehicles in free flight...
. - Electrical Engineering Research Laboratory (EERL) - Performs research in all forms of electromagnetic wave engineering. This includes radarRadarRadar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
, wireless communications, SATCOMS, and modeling ICsIntegrated circuitAn integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
. - Microelectronics and Computer Technology CorporationMicroelectronics and Computer Technology CorporationMicroelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation was the first, and - at one time - one of the largest, computer industry research and development consortia in the United States....
(MCC) - Technology research consortium consisting of 20 hi-tech companies. - Center for Electromechanics (CEM) - Research center focusing on electromagnetics, electromechanics, energy storage, and high performance energy conversion
- Center for Energy and Environmental Resources (CEER) - CEER is located in the Electromechanics and Energy Building
- Microelectronics Research Center (MRC) - Houses UT's research in nanoelectronicsNanoelectronicsNanoelectronics refer to the use of nanotechnology on electronic components, especially transistors. Although the term nanotechnology is generally defined as utilizing technology less than 100 nm in size, nanoelectronics often refer to transistor devices that are so small that inter-atomic...
(CMOS and post-CMOS), optoelectronicsOptoelectronicsOptoelectronics is the study and application of electronic devices that source, detect and control light, usually considered a sub-field of photonics. In this context, light often includes invisible forms of radiation such as gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet and infrared, in addition to visible light...
, and organic semiconductorOrganic semiconductorAn organic semiconductor is an organic material with semiconductor properties. Single molecules, short chain and organic polymers can be semiconductive. Semiconducting small molecules include the polycyclic aromatic compounds pentacene, anthracene, and rubrene...
s. The MRC is home to a state-of-the-art 15000 sq ft (1,393.5 m²) cleanroomCleanroomA cleanroom is an environment, typically used in manufacturing or scientific research, that has a low level of environmental pollutants such as dust, airborne microbes, aerosol particles and chemical vapors. More accurately, a cleanroom has a controlled level of contamination that is specified by...
for device fabrication and is a member of the NSFNational Science FoundationThe National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
's National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN). - Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (TARL) - a nationally recognized archeological research facility and the largest archeological repository in the state.