The money comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture, through its Research Facilities Act Program. That program helps universities build and modernize agricultural research facilities, according to a Texas Tech news release. Tech is calling the project the Food Science, Safety, and Workforce Development Complex.
The complex will house food innovation and sensory evaluation laboratories, pilot-processing facilities and spaces for industry collaboration. Food safety research and product development will sit alongside quality testing, consumer evaluation and workforce training.
For Davis College, this is about room to grow. Dean Clint Krehbiel said the college has outgrown its current infrastructure. The university says the complex will expand the college's research capacity and prepare the next generation of food scientists and industry leaders. Tech also says the work will reach well beyond Lubbock and feed into U.S. Food security.
Texas Tech President Lawrence Schovanec tied the grant to the school's roots. "Agriculture has been central to Texas Tech's mission since the university was founded, and it remains essential to our future," he said.
The pitch is simple: take a new food product from the lab to industry without ever leaving the building.