TAMPA, Fla. — A new lab at the University of South Florida will help speed up the development of technologies for the U.S. military.
It's a big production that will help build prototypes to address national and global security, and it's being built right here in Tampa.
The Rapid Experimentation Lab is being built from 8,000 square feet of office space into a rapid experimentation lab. It's managed by the USF Institute of Applied Engineering.
“Our primary customer is the U.S. government, so some of their requests that come through are time-sensitive. We can get these done very quickly," Taylor Johnston with the USF Institute of Applied Engineering said.
Johnston explained that in his line of work, time is of the essence.
“They give us a requirement and say, hey we need you to do X, and we say ok we’ll design, we’ll fit it, we’ll test it, then we’ll fabricate it and say ok this is your perfect design” Johnston said.
The lab will have cutting-edge equipment and put engineers with different areas of expertise in one room to work on a project. This will reduce the amount of time it takes to build a prototype and respond to the government's needs quickly.
“For USF, it gives us a greater capability to respond to the Tampa community, so, one, we are strengthening our ties with MacDill Airforce Base and the U.S. government, but also enabling some of our interns to come through and giving them the skills to go out to other small business throughout the community.”
The lab is being built at the University Mall near USF. Construction is expected to wrap up in early 2024.
