The wait for UC Berkeley’s bold new home for research and innovation is nearly over.
After two years of construction, the Bakar BioEnginuity Hub (BBH) is scheduled to open in February 2022. The world-class facility pairs the Bakar Labs incubator with fellowships and programming for Berkeley students and researchers, equipping current and aspiring entrepreneurs in the STEM world with labs, offices, equipment and shared community spaces that aim to encourage collaboration.
And all of this is just steps away from campus.
Located in Woo Hon Fai Hall — the former Berkeley Art Museum between Bancroft Way and Durant Avenue — the four-story building project is currently in the final stages of construction. But some Bakar Labs startup tenants have already moved into the building, aiming to find solutions to global challenges like the climate change crisis, food insecurity and disease prevention.
For Berkeley bioengineering professor and BBH executive director Amy Herr, the completion of the facility is “a dream come true.”
“It is overwhelming that we’re not just looking at a blueprint of a reinvigorated campus landmark,” Herr said, while standing on the building’s outdoor terrace. “We’re actually inside of a state-of-the-art incubator.”
Herr said the space is designed for research that tackles problems at the interface of the life sciences and the physical sciences — like biology and engineering: And that’s “bioenginuity.”
“There’s a lot of pride and anticipation for the future,” she said. “We want to provide agency and access to people who are committed to solving these big societal problems. And that requires a world-class infrastructure to get it done.”