San Diego State University broke ground Friday on the Imperial Valley Sciences and Engineering Laboratories in Brawley — part of the school’s ongoing research boom and its expansion of its campus in so-called “Lithium Valley.”
The building, largely made possible with $80 million in state funding, will train students, especially in Imperial County, to extract lithium from the ground near the Salton Sea so it can be used to produce batteries for electric vehicles and other devices. The center is scheduled to open in fall 2025.
The university has also been looking to collaborate with geothermal companies on research aimed at making such mining faster and more efficient.
SDSU also is expected to break ground this year on research buildings at its new satellite campus in Mission Valley.
The school is in the midst of the biggest research boom in its history. It pulled in a record $192.2 million for research a year ago — a figure that could rise to $300 million within a decade.
