Groundbreaking Scheduled for the Advanced Technology Research Center on Maui

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
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Posted: Jan 11, 2005

The Institute for Astronomy of the University of Hawaii will break ground at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, January 14, 2005, for a new 15,000 square-foot, two-story facility near Kula, Maui. This Advanced Technology Research Center (ATRC) promises to be the gathering place in Upcountry Maui for academic, government and industry partners engaged in technology development. This first phase of a longer-term program was designed by Kober/Hanssen/Mitchell Architects of Honolulu to be one of the flagship institutions on the Kulamalu Inc. property. The ATRC building, which is being built by Summit Construction Company, should be available for occupancy in the fall of 2005.

The state-of-the-art ATRC will serve as the main facility for the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy on Maui and will include laboratory workspace for microfabrication, advanced metrology and optical/infrared sensor development. Strategically located approximately halfway between the Maui Research and Technology Park and the summit of Haleakala, the 1.98-acre site is part of Dowling Company's Kulamalu Town Center project.

The ATRC's provisions for optical testing with day or nighttime astronomical sources make this an ideal facility for remote sensing instrument development. With its high-bandwidth digital link to the summit and the Maui Research and Technology Park, the ATRC will be a significant addition to the technology infrastructure of Maui and the state of Hawaii.

"We are proud to be a part of this effort to bring the vision of the new Advanced Technology Research Center to reality, as the facility will elevate our island and state's image as a home for the most serious technological and scientific investment," noted Maui-based developer Everett Dowling.

Dr. Jeff Kuhn, IfA associate director for Haleakala said, "The ATRC is a much needed facility that helps to build the momentum in Hawaii and on Maui for technology development."

IfA Director, Dr. Rolf-Peter Kudritzki said, "With the Maui ATRC, we will bring to the state a shared technology facility with capabilities that are not available anywhere else in Hawaii."

Mike Maberry, IfA assistant director for external affairs said, "At present, the Institute for Astronomy on Maui operates out of an 80-year-old farmhouse in Waiakoa to support its Haleakala activities. This bucolic structure was once owned by the Tom family who used it to house goats before the University purchased it in the early 1960s."

The Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii conducts research into galaxies, cosmology, stars, planets, and the Sun. Its faculty and staff are also involved in astronomy education, and in the development and management of the observatories on Haleakala and Mauna Kea. Refer to for more information.

A rendering of the east elevation of the ATRC can be found at
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/press-releases/ATRC_east-elevation.tif

For more information, visit: http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu