Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex

Construction

The ISEC building was constructed for collaboration and cutting-edge research , with the theme of flow and movement in mind. The central body of the building consists of a large atrium that extends from the ground floor to the six-story ceiling. Much of the research space which borders this main atrium is completely visible to observers , allowing for high levels of transparency between the public and different disciplines.Open spaces of collaboration and "research on display" define much of the complex.

ISEC was constructed on an urban brownfield site that was formerly a parking lot set between the Columbus Ave and Rennaisance Park Garages. Set between Boston's historic Roxbury and Fenway neighborhoods, The facility serves to connect two areas that were for the most part separated by the Amtrak and MBTA rail lines.^[2]

University profile

Completion of the ISEC facility signifies a major shift in the culture, history, and trajectory of Northeastern University. In the period from 2006-2016, its ranking as measured by US News and World Report rose from 98th to 39th. The school reports having received 50,000 applications for 2,300 places last year. The co-op program, in which students split their time between their studies and working jobs in the field, is still an integral part of the experiential learning education model of the school.^[3]

Once largely a commuter school, the university is making a large shift in increasing its research budget to become center of innovation and research that is on par with the nation's elite research colleges and universities, and the opening of ISEC marks a future of accelerating Northeastern's research momentum.

In the past ten years, the university's federal research funding has more than doubled, to the current $130 million a year, and Northeastern has hired 565 new tenured and tenure-track faculty in disciplines directly tied to its research goals since the 2006-2007 academic year.^[4]

The ISEC building represents a $225 million dollar piece of the $1.6 billion master plan for development proposed by Northeastern to the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) in November 2013.^[5]

Expansion projects

Currently, the rail corridor that serves Amtrak, the Orange Line, and commuter trains makes walking or biking from one side to the other difficult, effectively isolating Northeastern's main campus from the Roxbury neighborhood. To combat this issue, the designers of ISEC have designed a new pedestrian bridge which will extend from a ISEC to the old campus of Northeastern, with accommodations for pedestrians and cyclists, and be open to the public. Construction began in Fall 2017 and is scheduled to finish in late 2018.

Research projects

The complex currently houses five major research projects.

The Human-centered robotics research group develops robots and assistive devices to empower people, improve health care, or ensure public safety. In partnership with NASA, researchers are programming a 6’2” humanoid, Valkyrie, to explore Mars as soon as 2030, ahead of human explorers.^[6] This project represents a collaborative effort between Northeastern University, University of Massachusetts Lowell, and NASA's Johnson Space Center.^[7]

The research on brain and cognitive health uses virtual reality, computer modeling, and neuroimaging technologies, including fMRI, researchers design new ways to measure performance from youth to old age.

Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute researchers are currently designing techniques to safeguard data and strengthen critical wireless and cloud-network infrastructure against attack.

The research team responsible for drug delivery and structural biology designs small molecules, the basis of new medicines to treat schizophrenia, among other devastating diseases. Sculpted at the atomic level, this project develops molecules which must fit cell targets precisely to avoid causing toxic side effects.

The translational biophotonics research cluster harnesses visible and near-infrared light rays to examine disease. To develop new optical technologies, engineers, physicists, and chemists collaborate with biologists and pharmaceutical scientists at Northeastern and medical experts at Boston’s world-class research hospitals.

Lobbying and protest

On April 4, 2017, the building had its official grand opening ceremony. Researchers, students, faculty, administrators, and executives of various research institutions attended the grand opening along with a protesting student environmental group, DivestNU.

DivestNU is a student organization that advocates for Northeastern's administration to divest the university’s endowments from the fossil fuel industry. During their outdoor demonstrations at the opening of the building, DivestNU members did things such as hold up tubes to symbolize oil pipelines.

The Northeastern University Police Department (NUPD) let the student protesters go inside as long as they did not hand out flyers. After getting in, the NUPD had to prevent them from handing out any posters at all inside. Eventually, the group was asked to leave ISEC building.^[8]