M Square Soars!

The largest research park in the state of Maryland and the greater Washington, D.C. region got its official kickoff Thursday, October 14 during a ceremony that featured University of Maryland President C.D. Mote Jr. and a long list of distinguished guests, including U.S. Sen. Paul Sarbanes, U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer, Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, and Samuel Bodman, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Treasury. The University of Maryland Enterprise Campus, or M Square, comprises approximately 124 acres adjacent to the University of Maryland/College Park Metro Station. M Square already has two anchor tenants: the National Center for Weather and Climate Prediction of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the federally funded University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language. At full build-out, it is expected that more than 2 million sq. ft. of research space and more than 5000 workers will occupy the M Square site. Read the brochure about M Square (PDF file). Manekin, LLC, Corporate Office Properties Trust and The Michael Companies have been approved by Maryland's Board of Public Works to partner with the university in developing M Square. "The launch of M Square is a milestone on the road to new university partnerships with national and international companies, government laboratories and other research organizations that will fuel the economy of the county, state, region and nation," said University of Maryland President C.D. Mote Jr. "It will provide extraordinary opportunities to leverage resources of the University and our partners for the technology enterprise beyond the campus. "We are delighted to begin M Square with a new NOAA center for weather and climate prediction and with the government-university Center for Advanced Study of Language," Mote said. "This is the dawn of a new day for university contributions to society. "Many people were instrumental in making the NOAA project possible, but one man stands out as a true champion," Mote said. "Congressman Steny Hoyer, who represents the 5th District in Maryland, worked tirelessly to bring together all the right people. When the project looked to be in doubt, he crossed the aisle to gain support in the federal budget. We and the citizens of Prince George's County and the State of Maryland are deeply indebted to Steny Hoyer." Mote went on to also thank Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, who worked to obtain 5 million dollars from the state of Maryland to purchase land for the project.

Audio Highlights from the MSquare Event
(Requires Quicktime)

	Dr. Mote
	Rep. Hoyer
	Lt. Gov. Steele

"NOAA's world-class National Center for Weather and Climate Prediction is proud to be the anchor tenant at M-Square," said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. "Being close to the research community provides a synergistic, collaborative link to accelerate the transfer of research breakthroughs into operational products that serve the nation's needs to improve climate, weather and water predictions."

The University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language is currently occupying leased space until its permanent home in the research park is completed. NOAA plans to break ground for its new multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art weather and climate prediction center in April 2005. The research park's immediate neighbors include the American Center for Physics, and the U.S Food and Drug Administration/University of Maryland Joint Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

Building the Future of Weather and Climate Research

NOAA's selection of the M Square site is a reflection of the University of Maryland's long tradition of atmospheric, climate and earth science research. And it's a recognition that in recent years Maryland has become a leading center for climate research and numeric weather forecasting, developing major new partnerships with federal agencies in the areas of earth science, remote imaging, climate change and energy research.

One recent partnership is the Joint Global Change Research Institute, a university-based collaboration between Maryland and the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Another is the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, a joint center between the university's departments of meteorology, geology and geography and the Earth Sciences Directorate at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

The University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language is a federally funded University Affiliated Research Center that started in 2003. CASL is supported through a joint venture between the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community. The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is the executive agent.

The center conducts groundbreaking research that focuses on less commonly taught languages, language acquisition, contextual analysis of language, and human computer interaction and machine (computer) translation. CASL looks at a wide range of factors affecting how languages are used and how they are learned. Its core tasks include: conducting basic and applied research on language, cognition and culture; fostering collaborative research across academia, government, and industry; and fostering education in language, linguistics and culture to support language professionals in government service.

The University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language builds on the work of the university's National Foreign Language Center. The NFLC serves as the nation's principal institutional resource for strategic planning and drafting of policy for language. Its current projects include developing high-level language centers at U.S. universities, creating Internet-based individual language instruction programs and helping K-12 school districts develop and improve language programs.

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