J. J. Pickle Research Campus
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The J. J. Pickle Research Campus (PRC) in
Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
, Texas, United States is owned and operated by the University of Texas at Austin. It sits on 475 acres (1.9 km²) in northwest Austin, approximately 9 miles (14 km) north of the main UT campus and just south of the
Domain Domain may refer to: Mathematics *Domain of a function, the set of input values for which the (total) function is defined **Domain of definition of a partial function **Natural domain of a partial function **Domain of holomorphy of a function * Do ...
.


History

The original site was only 402 acres (1.6 km²) and only extended as far west as the railroad. It was originally a magnesium plant during World War II and was owned by the United States government. Following the conclusion of the war, the site was declared surplus, and UT engineering professors C. Read Granberry and J. Neils Thompson sought to lease and eventually purchase the site for the University. The lease agreement was reached in 1946, and certain research projects began to be moved to the new campus. In 1949, with the help of then-Congressman Lyndon B. Johnson, the University purchased the site, then named the Off-Campus Research Center (OCRC), from the federal government. In 1953, it became the Balcones Research Center, so named for the
Balcones Escarpment The Balcones Fault or Balcones Fault Zone is an area of largely normal faulting Edwards Aquifer in the U.S. state of Texas that runs roughly from the southwest part of the state near Del Rio to the north-central region near Dallas along Inte ...
that runs through that part of the city. Over the years, the University continued to develop the campus, whose tenants made significant contributions to research in the areas of defense, nuclear physics, and space flight. It received a clear title to the property in 1971, and in 1974 purchased another tract of land west of the railroad, bringing the site to its current area. The University again renamed the campus in 1994, this time for former Congressman and UT alumnus
J. J. Pickle James Jarrell "Jake" Pickle (October 11, 1913 – June 18, 2005) was a United States Representative from the 10th congressional district of Texas from 1963 to 1995. Pickle was born in Roscoe, Texas and brought up in Big Spring. He acquired h ...
. When he was Austin's congressional representative, Pickle was instrumental in bringing major research efforts to the campus. Pickle died in 2005.


Campus

The Pickle Research Campus is not a full college campus: there are no dormitories, and most classes held there are for working professional programs (such as the Executive Masters program). Other than normal campus operations and a cafeteria / conference center, it is strictly a research facility. Due to the sensitive nature of some of the research being done at the PRC, it is also a closed campus. On a normal weekday, access to the campus is restricted to University students, faculty, and staff with parking permits, as well as expected guests. After hours or on weekends, access is restricted to approved personnel only. A shuttle runs between the two campuses on weekdays. Many students and some faculty/staff, especially those living in north Austin, opt to park at PRC and ride the shuttle due to the limited parking on the main campus. Today, the campus houses approximately 100 buildings. Many of the campus's original 29 buildings, most of which were built in the early 1940s, are still in use today. The vast majority of the campus is contained on the original site. Additionally, part of the west tract between
Loop 1 Loop or LOOP may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Loop (mobile), a Bulgarian virtual network operator and co-founder of Loop Live * Loop, clothing, a company founded by Carlos Vasquez in the 1990s and worn by Digable Planets * Loop Mobile, a ...
and US 183 has been leased to retailers such as
Office Depot The ODP Corporation is an American office supply holding company headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. The company has combined annual sales of approximately $11 billion, and employs about 38,000 associates with businesses in the United States. ...
. In 2003, the UT System Board of Regents and Simon Property Group reached a $130 million lease agreement under which Simon would build a shopping mall on 46 acres (186,000 m²) of unused PRC land along Loop 1 and across from another Simon Property Group venture - the Domain. Construction on the Arbor Walk began in 2005, with its first retail stores opening in October 2006. Despite all this, a significant amount of the campus remains undeveloped. While there are roads throughout the campus, many of them border empty plots of land. UT administrators have announced plans to eventually develop the PRC into a full-fledged campus, but they are only preliminary. Visitors will also observe numerous bluebonnets, the Texas state flower, at the PRC. They are visible outside the campus from Burnet Road, but can be found in various places throughout the site.


Research departments


Applied Research Laboratories
- One of the first and largest departments to be located at the PRC.
Bureau of Economic Geology
- The oldest research unit at UT and the Texas state geological survey.
Texas Advanced Computing Center
- Operates the ''Stampede2''
supercomputer A supercomputer is a computer with a high level of performance as compared to a general-purpose computer. The performance of a supercomputer is commonly measured in floating-point operations per second ( FLOPS) instead of million instructions ...
, which ranks 6th in the world.
Nuclear Engineering Teaching Lab
- Operates a fully functional nuclear reactor.
Center for Aeromechanics Research
- Houses a
supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound ( Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...
Mach Mach may refer to Mach number, the speed of sound in local conditions. It may also refer to: Computing * Mach (kernel), an operating systems kernel technology * ATI Mach, a 2D GPU chip by ATI * GNU Mach, the microkernel upon which GNU Hurd is bas ...
5 wind tunnel.
Electrical Engineering Research Laboratory (EERL)
- Performs research in all forms of electromagnetic wave engineering. This includes radar, wireless communications, SATCOMS, and modeling
ICs ICS may refer to: Computing * Image Cytometry Standard, a digital multidimensional image file format used in life sciences microscopy * Industrial control system, computer systems and networks used to control industrial plants and infrastructu ...
. * Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC) - Technology research consortium consisting of 20 hi-tech companies. Currently designated as the West Pickle Research Campus (WPR)
Center for Electromechanics (CEM)
- Research center focusing on electromagnetics, electromechanics, energy storage, and high performance energy conversion

- CEER is located in the Electromechanics and Energy Building
Center for Water and the Environment (CWE)
- Carries out advanced research, education, design and planning in water resources and environmental management in Texas, across the United States, and internationally.
Microelectronics Research Center (MRC)
- Houses UT's research in nanoelectronics (CMOS and post-CMOS), optoelectronics, and organic semiconductors. The MRC is home to a state-of-the-art cleanroom for device fabrication and is a member of the
NSF NSF may stand for: Political organizations *National Socialist Front, a Swedish National Socialist party *NS-Frauenschaft, the women's wing of the former German Nazi party *National Students Federation, a leftist Pakistani students' political gr ...
'
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN)

Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (TARL)
- a nationally recognized archeological research facility and the largest archeological repository in the state.


Bus connections

The campus is served via Capital Metro as well, through a stop known as UT Research Campus. The buses that serve this stop are: * #466 Kramer * #803 Burnet/S. Lamar


External links


The University of Texas at Austin


* * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070927014153/http://www.asg-architects.com/expertise/town/jjpickle/ Ayers/Saint/Gross: J.J. Pickle Research Campus Master Plan {{University of Texas at Austin, campus University and college campuses in Texas University of Texas at Austin campus