The Institute of Northern Engineering has established the Alaska Center for Energy and Power to support state, industry and federal demand for applied energy research. ACEP’s approach includes:

Rural energy solutions: providing applied research and testing that will lead to lower power cost in rural Alaska.

Big power: providing the research needed to develop big power in Alaska to service resource development needs in both the state and Arctic region.

The oilfield of the future: extending ongoing research in gas hydrates, heavy oil, carbon sequestration and renewables so that the oil industry and the state are prepared for the future.

ACEP is interdisciplinary, needs-driven and agile. A wide range of partnerships are being developed with organizations such as the Fairbanks Economic Development Corporation, the Cold Climate Housing Research Center, the Fairbanks North Star Borough and Chena Hot Springs Resort. Investment in ACEP will give Alaska’s rural communities access to less expensive power and more thoroughly tested technologies, industry access to research on future development opportunities and the state the opportunity to diversify through development of power as a resource.

New construction at UAF brings biomedical and behavioral research to Alaska

A trio of interconnected buildings planned for the west ridge of the UAF campus will house and support the university’s developing programs in biomedical and behavioral research. This complex of buildings changes the landscape for health science in Alaska.

The Biological Research and Diagnostic (BiRD) building was occupied in early 2007. The new state virology laboratory should be occupied in early 2009 and a third building is planned. This complex of buildings is an example of what can be done when the university and the state work together. Fostering and promoting an integrated working relationship between the university’s biomedical programs and the state’s public health laboratories will significantly benefit human health in Alaska.

Continuing state commitment and investment is a prerequisite for securing federal research funds and continuing to grow biomedical research in Alaska. Over the past few years, new buildings, newly renovated laboratories and a hopeful outlook for continued state investment in research have led to successful proposal development and increased interest from key federal sponsors. This state investment has resulted in several grant awards from the National Institutes of Health, as well as several infrastructure building grants.


Biomedical and health research at the University of Alaska

The University of Alaska was established to serve Alaska needs for
instruction and research. From the beginning, UA has educated and trained Alaskans desiring diverse careers, including the health professions. Through the past century faculty at UA have pursued biomedical research projects, often in collaboration with state and federal agencies and the health community in Alaska.

Since 2000, health and biomedical programs at the university have grown significantly.  With investment of state dollars there has been an increased capacity to better meet the needs for a well-educated workforce in the health professions including nursing, social work, medical technology and medicine. Coupled with the state’s investment has come the success of competitive federal grants designed to strengthen the infrastructure to support respected biomedical research from our faculty. Now more than midway in the investment period, UA faculty members are successfully competing and winning multi-million dollar competitive awards from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

Watch us continue to grow and gain respected standing as a biomedical health research university.