Fall classes have just begun at the University of Minnesota Rochester (UMR), and this semester, hundreds of students are taking a new route to class. They’ll be walking right by the offices of Mayo Clinic, Epic, Boston Scientific, and other industry-leading researchers.
UMR is joining these groups as an anchor tenant at One Discovery Square, a 90,000 square foot health care innovation campus in the Destination Medical Center (DMC) Discovery Square sub-district.
On the first floor, the university has a new common area for students, faculty, and staff centered around collaboration and flexibility.
“Those are the two words that really drove the way we designed the spaces,” said Dr. Jeffrey Ratliff-Crain, Vice Chancellor at UMR. “This building gives us that.”
Moveable couches, chairs, and tables lend themselves to group work and discussion. Dry erase boards cover most of the walls, allowing students and faculty to work through course material together.
UMR also has space on the third floor, including a classroom and a laboratory. Ratliff-Crain says this lab and its state-of-the-art equipment parallel much of Mayo Clinic’s professional lab space in the building. The third-floor classroom can be turned into another laboratory if more space is needed.
This kind of coexistence between students and industry professionals is exactly what DMC leaders have in mind for the Discovery Square subdistrict.