Skyra to Prisma Upgrade - Community Update Archive

Owned by
Douglas Befroy
Last updated: Aug 01, 2023
16 min read

JULY 2023

Community Update – 7/31/2023

Hi BIC community and NHB, FNT and WEL occupants,

After 6 months of construction, we are finally approaching the end of the project to upgrade the MRI in NHB.

Our new Siemens 3T Prisma MRI scanner has been fully installed and calibrated – we acquired our first human images with the system during Siemens training last week. The Center has been renovated with refurbished office and lab space and upgraded utilities have been installed for current and future scanners. Check out the Skyra to Prisma Upgrade page of the BIC Wiki for photos of all this work.

This week is the final full week of construction in NHB as Linbeck put the finishing touches on the facility renovations and hand the site back over to me.

The 2-week Look Ahead schedule shows the upcoming activities – details on the Wikipage. Please note that there has been a delay to the anticipated re-setting of the concrete lintel on the building fascia (scheduled for 8/1) although we are still hoping that this can be completed this week.

The BIC team are starting to re-equip the Center so that it is fully functional for research studies, and we plan to start on-boarding research groups from the middle of the month.

Best wishes,

Doug

Community Update – 7/19/2023

Hi BIC community and NHB / FNT and WEL occupants,

After a hectic few weeks, our new Siemens 3T Prisma MRI scanner is now fully installed and calibrated and was officially handed over to UT on 7/17/2023.

Only a couple of weeks of major construction remain as we complete the renovations to the BIC facility and return NHB to pre-construction status.

Activities over the next 2 weeks will be minimally disruptive and primarily involve finishing out the MRI Control Room and constructing the new lab and office spaces that lie under the access shaft drop-zone within the Center. Please check out the Skyra to Prisma Upgrade page of the BIC Wiki for photos of how things are progressing.

Siemens will be on-site next week to familiarize the BIC team with new system, after which we’ll begin onboarding users to commence scanning on the Prisma. If you’re a member of the BIC community, the team are currently developing a conversion training curriculum and we will distribute details of this process in the near future.

If you have any questions, please reach out.

Best wishes,

Doug


JUNE 2023

Community Update – 6/14/2023

Hi BIC community and NHB / FNT and WEL occupants,

Despite the last-minute change of delivery date, our new Prisma MRI scanner was rigged into NHB on Sunday 6/4 and is now fully sited within the BIC – you can see photos of the rigging operation on the Skyra to Prisma Upgrade page of the BIC Wiki.

Mechanical installation of the system was completed this past weekend and the cryostat was topped-up with liquid helium yesterday (6/13). We are now in the process of finishing out the MRI suite in preparation for system calibrations. Except for normal construction traffic and noise, there should be no significant building or community-wide impacts over the next 2 weeks. However, the building façade lintel is scheduled to be reinstalled on 6/21/23, which may temporarily restrict access along E 24th St while it is being hoisted into place.

Full details of all construction activities can be found on the Wiki page – please reach out if you have any queries on concerns.

Best wishes,

Doug

Prisma Delivery Update – 6/4/2023

Hi everyone,

It looks like we are all set for the MRI install this morning. The riggers are already on site, and the MRI itself is scheduled to arrive between 8:00 and 8:30 AM. Estimating an equipment hoist beginning at around 9:30-10 AM.

Best wishes

Doug

Prisma Delivery Update – 6/3/2023

Hi everyone,

We just heard from Siemens that the truck delivering the MRI broke down en-route and will not make it to Austin in time to rig the system into NHB today.

At present, we're working on a delivery for first thing tomorrow (Sunday, 6/4) morning. 

I will update you with more details as soon as I know more.

Doug

Prisma Delivery Update – 6/2/2023

Hi everyone,

Just a brief update regarding the MRI delivery tomorrow, 6/3.

The truck with the scanner has been delayed en-route from Illinois so activities are being pushed back by 3 hours.

This means that E 24th St will be shut at around 7am, the MRI should arrive at noon and the equipment hoist is projected to start at approximately 1pm.

Best wishes,

Doug

MAY 2023

Community Update – 5/29/2023

Hi BIC community and NHB / FNT and WEL occupants,

The second major milestone in our MRI upgrade project has now been accomplished – on Friday, 5/19/2023 the Skyra MRI was removed from the basement of NHB using our new access shaft. The entire rigging operation ran extremely smoothly, and you can see photos of the process on the Skyra to Prisma Upgrade page of the BIC Wiki.

This coming week we are preparing for the installation of our new Prisma system, a process that will involve significant remodelling of the MRI suite. The work will be confined to the BIC but may involve local outages as we re-route and upgrading existing utilities; otherwise, the building-wide impact will be limited to general construction noise. Full details can be found on the 2-week Look-Ahead schedule on our Wiki page.

The week will end with the rigging of the Prisma MRI into the BIC suite on the morning of Saturday, 6/3/2023, which should be another impressive technical operation. As previously, E 24th Street from Speedway to Gearing Hall (GEA) will be shut starting at 4am, with the equipment hoist anticipated to start at about 9am and completed by early afternoon. Again, the sidewalks along 24th St will be inaccessible, and NHB will only be accessible from the north and east sides of the building. Once the system is in the building and sited its mechanical installation will commence, which will likely take until 6/8.

Many thanks for your continued cooperation and patience through this process – I’m looking forward to having a shiny, new, state-of-the-art MRI scanner for the benefit of the UT imaging community.

Best wishes,

Doug

Community Update – 5/17/2023

Hi BIC community and NHB / FNT and WEL occupants,

This is a significant week for our MRI Upgrade project in NHB – the access shaft is ready for use and our 3T Skyra MRI system will be removed from BIC’s suite in the basement this Friday, 5/19/23. Please be aware that E 24th Street from Speedway to Gearing Hall (GEA) will be shut for this operation starting at 4am, with the equipment hoist anticipated to start at about 10am. The sidewalks along the street will be inaccessible, but the path along Painter Hall and Welch may still be used. NHB will only be accessible from the north and east sides of the building, so please plan accordingly if you need to enter the building.

Siemens have already started deinstalling the Skyra system in preparation for Friday, and the remainder of this week will involve final preparations to clear the drop-zone of scaffolding and equipment. Next week we will begin renovations to the MRI Control, Scanner and Equipment Rooms to prepare for the installation of the new 3T Prisma scanner at the beginning of June. With the exception of the rigging activity on 5/19, this work is confined to the BIC suite, so there should be no significant impacts on building occupants or the rest of campus.

Full details of upcoming activities can be found in the 2-week Look-Ahead schedule on the Skyra to Prisma Upgrade page of the BIC Wiki, along with photos of current construction work.

Best wishes,

Doug

Community Update - 5/11/2023

Hi BIC community and NHB / FNT occupants,

We’ve had major progress over the past week on our renovations to NHB – saw-cutting of the patio was completed yesterday and we now have an opening for our access shaft into the BIC suite in the basement !! Visit the construction photo archive on the Skyra to Prisma Upgrade page of the BIC Wiki to check out what’s happened. This marks the end of the most noisy and impactful work of the entire project, and the construction team and I really appreciate your cooperation and patience during this time.

The remainder of this week will involve the installation of the support structure for the shaft and the rerouting of the remaining ductwork that blocks the drop-zone. But all the major milestones that needed to be completed to swap the MRI systems have now been met. Final decommissioning of our Skyra MRI will occur at the beginning of next week, and it will be rigged out of the NHB basement on the morning of Friday, May 19th. Note that the whole of E 24th Street from Speedway to Gearing Hall (GEA) will be shut for this operation, and NHB will only be accessible from the north and east sides of the building. Full details of upcoming work can be found on the 2-week Look-Ahead schedule on the Skyra to Prisma Upgrade page of the BIC Wiki.

Looking further ahead, we are still on track to rig-in and commence the installation our new 3T Prisma MRI scanner on Saturday, June 3rd. The next 4 weeks are going to be an eventful period for BIC, as we enter a new era for imaging research at UT Austin!!

Please get in touch if you have any queries or concerns.

Best wishes,

Doug

Community Update - 5/3/2023

Hi BIC community and NHB / FNT occupants,

We’ve made significant progress in the building renovations as we head towards the deinstallation and removal of the Skyra MRI from NHB, scheduled for 5/19. Shoring for the shaft from the basement to patio level is now in place, and concrete footings for the support structure will be poured this Friday / Saturday. This will enables us to saw-cut the access point through the patio itself at the end of this week – anticipate significant noise Wednesday – Friday for this activity. The structural steel for the drop-zone will be erected and assembled next week (5/8 – 5/12) – this will be loud but shouldn’t be as overtly impactful. Decommissioning of the Skyra system has begun and the renovations of the MRI Control Room will commence this week. Full details of the next 2 weeks’ activities can be found in the Look-Ahead schedule on the Skyra to Prisma Upgrade page of the BIC Wiki. A revised master schedule for construction has also been posted reflecting the revised dates for Skyra rig-out and Prisma install that were announced last week.

We appreciate your cooperation as we move into this next phase which will be the most impactful stage of construction. Believe it or not, our new 3T Prisma MRI will be delivered one month from today !!

Please reach out if you have any questions,

Best wishes,

Doug

APRIL 2023

Community Update - 4/26/2023

Hi BIC community and NHB / FNT occupants,

We have made a significant amount of progress on the renovations to NHB over that past 7-10 days in preparation for the upgrade of the BIC’s 3T MRI system. Those of you passing the building on 24th Street will have noticed that one of the lintels crossing the façade has been removed to permit access for the crane that will lift the MRI scanners into and out of the building. Paving slabs on the patio have also been removed and the location of the new access shaft into the basement is now clearly defined. Within the building, relocation of HVAC ductwork and water piping in the mezzanine level between the basement and 1st floor has begun to clear the drop-zone of the access shaft. Photos of this work can be found in our Construction Photo Archive on the BIC Wiki.

Upcoming work includes continued demolition of MEP utilities within the drop-zone at the mezzanine level and further preparation of the footings for the patio lid support structure – both of which may cause intermittent construction noise and vibrations in the BIC suite and adjoining areas. Looking further ahead, additional saw-cutting of the NHB patio is projected for May 2nd and 3rd, this work will be very-loud and impactful, but will start in the early morning and cease by 10am. Please check the 2-week look ahead schedule on the Skyra to Prisma Upgrade page of the BIC Wiki for more details.

Unfortunately, due to an accumulation of minor administrative and construction delays, we have had to push back the installation date of the new Prisma MRI system. The decommissioned Skyra scanner will now be removed from NHB on Friday, May 19th, and due to the timing of the Memorial Day weekend the Prisma system will now be rigged into the building on Saturday, June 3rd. The updated project timeline can also be found on the Skyra to Prisma Upgrade page of the BIC Wiki.

As always, please feel free to contact me or the NHB facilities team if you have any queries or concerns.

Best wishes,

Doug

Community Update - 4/19/2023

Hi BIC community and NHB / FNT occupants,

A brief update this week, just to let you know that construction continues as we renovate NHB in preparation to replace BIC’s 3T MRI system. There will be general construction noise over the next 2 weeks, but saw-cutting of the NHB patio to create the access shaft to the basement BIC suite will occur on Monday 4/24/23, which will be noisy and impactful to building occupants and pedestrians.

Please see the 2-week look ahead schedule on the Skyra to Prisma Upgrade page of the BIC Wiki for more details.

Best wishes,

Doug

Community Update - 4/11/2023

Hi BIC community and NHB / FNT occupants,

We've had some major progress in construction at NHB over the past 10 days.

Please check out the photos on the Skyra to Prisma Upgrade of our Wiki, where you can see that interior demolition of the BIC suite under the drop zone is almost complete and excavation down to bedrock for the footings that will support the removable patio slab has begun.

Upcoming work will involve general construction noise, with no heavy noise anticipated in the current 2-week Look-ahead schedule. Prior noisy work within the Center does not appear to have been audible outside of the suite, so we are hoping to keep these impacts to a minimum. However, I do want to alert you that we expect to commence saw-cutting the NHB patio slab to create the MRI access shaft opening on 4/24/2023, which will likely be the first overtly audible evidence of construction to NHB occupants and the wider community.

Overall, the project is still on schedule with the install of our new Prisma system on track for the 20th of May.

As always, please check the BIC Wiki for project news and reach out if you have any queries or concerns.

Best wishes,

Doug



MARCH 2023

Community Update - 3/29/2023

Hi BIC community and NHB / FNT occupants,

Construction is continuing in NHB as we prepare for the MRI Upgrade at BIC. Due to some delays in the UT approvals process, we have had to postpone the saw-cutting of the basement concrete slab from this week to next week. This noisy work will now commence on 4/4 and is projected to continue through 4/6. Otherwise, construction proceeds as planned and we are on schedule for the installation of our new Prisma MRI on 5/20/23.

Full details can be found on the updated Skyra to Prisma upgrade page of the BIC Wiki, where you can also see recent photos of our progress.

Please reach out if you have any queries.

Best wishes,

Doug

Community Update - 3/22/2023

Hi BIC community and NHB / FNT occupants,

Just a brief update this week on progress with the NHB MRI Upgrade.

The Skyra MRI was ramped down on Monday after ~11 years of service to the UT community.

BIC suite access has now been revoked for all non-essential personnel – I hope that all lab-group research equipment has been removed from the site as requested, but please contact the BIC team if you urgently need to retrieve anything.

An updated 2-week Look-Ahead schedule has been published on the Skyra to Prisma Upgrade page of the BIC Wiki. Saw-cutting of the basement concrete slab is slated to occur this Thursday and Friday – this work will induce noise and vibrations in the basement and spaces above but is restricted to 4:00-10:00am. Looking forward to next week, no work of significant impact to building occupants is currently scheduled.

I am also regularly posting photos of the ongoing renovation work within the BIC suite, so you can monitor our progress !!

As always, please reach out to myself or the NHB Facilities team if you have any queries on concerns.

Best wishes,

Doug

Community Update - 3/15/2023

Hi BIC community and NHB / FNT occupants,

Those of you still on campus over Spring Break will have seen the first overt signs of construction for the MRI upgrade - with barriers now in place on the NHB patio outlining the area where the new access shaft into the BIC suite will be created. This Friday also marks the end of an era, when the 3T Skyra will be ramped down – concluding its ~11 years of service to imaging research at UT Austin.

Looking forward, the 2-Week Look-Ahead schedule published on the Skyra to Prisma Upgrade page on the BIC Wiki reveals that the first significant impacts of construction will occur next week, with saw-cutting of the basement concrete slab and the excavation of new footings for the shaft’s support structure. Sound and vibrations can be anticipated in the building during this work, which will be restricted from 7:00 to 10:00am. Accordingly, access to the BIC suite for non-essential personnel will also be revoked from Monday, March 20th, so any equipment remaining in the facility from research-groups performing recent studies must be removed by 5pm on 3/20.

This morning I also received confirmation from Siemens of dates for the installation schedule of our new 3T Prisma system. With the cooperation and support of the team at Linbeck, we have managed to bring this forward by a week and the system will be rigged-in to NHB on Saturday, May 20th and mechanical installation should be complete by the Memorial Day weekend. Other key dates for the project timeline have also been updated on the BIC-Wiki, and a revised Master Schedule of construction will be published shortly.

As we continue with this project, the patience and support of you all is much appreciated.

As always, please reach out to myself or the NHB Facilities team if you have any queries or concerns.

Best wishes,

Doug

Community Update - 3/9/2023

Dear NHB occupants and BIC community,

The project to upgrade the Siemens 3T MRI scanner in the basement of NHB has finally begun earnest – Linbeck construction are now on site and are beginning the preparations for the building renovations. I can confirm that the final day of scanning on our Skyra system will be Sunday March 12th, and that physical construction work will officially begin on Monday March 13th. Most of the work for the next 2-3 weeks will involve personnel training for Linbeck and their sub-contractors, site preparation including cordoning off areas for planned demo-work (primarily on the NHB patio and within the BIC facility itself) and establishing schedules for local or building-wide outages – no noise or vibration-inducing work is planned for this period.

Up-to-date information regarding the project can be found on a dedicated page on the BIC-Wiki: BIC - Skyra to Prisma Upgrade, including key milestones in the project timeline, current progress and the 2-week look-ahead schedule for construction.

We will endeavor to notify the community of impactful activities with as much notice as possible, and these will be communicated directly to the affected parties for work with only a local impact or via a community-wide email for larger scale work. At the building-level, typical impacts will involve general construction noise, and we have coordinated for heavy noise-inducing activities to cease at 10am.

Please reach out to myself or the NHB Facilities team if you have any queries on concerns that are not addressed on the Wiki site.

We are looking forward to this exciting new stage in the project to upgrade our MRI scanner and the evolution of imaging research at UT.

Best wishes,

Doug

FEBRUARY 2023

Linbeck Officially on-site - 2/17/2023

Hi BIC Community,

I wanted to update you with some exciting news – Linbeck are now officially onsite in NHB and commencing the process to start construction on our new access shaft into the BIC suite. This email is the first of what I intend to be weekly updates following our OAC (Owner-Architect-Contractor) meetings on a Monday, and this information will also be shared on the Skyra to Prisma Upgrade page of the BIC Wiki.

The next 2 or 3 weeks will very much be preliminary work – setting up the local site office (which will be within the BIC suite in 0.240K), on-site familiarization for the Linbeck team, and establishing the timelines and mechanisms for infrastructure outages. Look-ahead schedules will also be posted on Prisma Upgrade page, and the first of these is also live.  This phase will also dictate the official shutdown date for Skyra operations – I am pushing to have this finalized early next week, so I can apprise you of that at the next update and publicize the official construction schedule.

During this period there may be one or two Linbeck employees within the Center, so please be aware of their presence if you are running studies on the Skyra – they will be in Linbeck uniforms so clearly identifiable. Their route into the Center will be via the back-entrance, so you may not encounter them at all. These individuals do have badge access to non-sensitive areas of the facility, but at present there is no reason for them to enter the MRI Control or Scanner Rooms, so please do not allow them into these spaces.

Make sure to visit the Skyra to Prisma Upgrade page for more information about the process, and I look forward to keeping you all up to date with our progress. 

Best wishes,

Doug

JANUARY – OCTOBER 2022

NHB Community Town Hall Meeting - 10/10/2022

BIC, in partnership with Linbeck, hosted a Town Hall meeting on the 10th October 2022 to discuss the impact of the upcoming renovations to the Norman Hackerman Building on the NHB community. An overview of the construction process was presented, along with an outline of the provisional schedule and key activities. Renovations to the BIC suite were presented as well as features of the new Prisma system.

Linbeck's presentation from the Town Hall can be found here:  Linbeck - UT MRI NHB Community Meeting.pdf

BIC's presentation from the Town Hall can be found here:  Skyra Prisma Town Hall - 10Oct2022.pdf


Prisma System ordered - 9/30/2022

UT placed the order for the BIC's new Siemens 3T Prisma MRI on 9/30/2022 - systems specifications can be found here: .


Skyra → Prisma Town Hall Meeting - 3/11/2022

The BIC hosted its inaugural Skyra → Prisma Town Hall meeting on the 11th March 2022 to outline the prospective upgrade of the 3T scanner in NHB. Discussion focused on the preferred specifications of the new Prisma system, the infrastructure modifications to the Norman Hackerman Building and the internal renovations to the BIC suite.

The Town Hall presentation from can be found here: Skyra Prisma Town Hall - 11Mar2022.pdf


3T Prisma upgrade for NHB - 1/13/2022

Dear BIC Community,

Happy New Year!  With the support of the Vice Provost for Faculty Development, Ali Preston; the Vice President for Research, Dan Jaffe; and the Executive Vice President and Provost, Sharon Wood, the University Budget Council has committed funds to upgrade the 3T Siemens Skyra MRI in NHB to a state-of-the-art 3T Siemens Prisma MRI.

This is indeed an exciting time for imaging research on campus!  The university’s generous investment in biomedical imaging will provide long-term support for the research endeavors of the BIC community; however, replacing the Skyra presents a few short-term obstacles.  The replacement and transition to the Prisma will be a large, complex process and we wanted to start the communication and planning process with you now in an open and candid manner.  UT Project Management and Construction Services (PMCS) conducted a feasibility study on the BIC facility and recommends the construction of an access shaft from ground level into the BIC space in the NHB basement to remove the Skyra and install the Prisma.  After construction of the shaft, removal of the Skyra, and the installation of the Prisma, the facility will require final renovations and system acceptance tests before researchers can access the new instrument.  This one-time construction is being designed to enable future upgrades to equipment in the BIC suite to occur more seamlessly.

A high priority for PMCS and the CNS facilities team is for this project to cause minimal disruption to research activities within NHB.  Construction and renovation work will be planned accordingly.  However, you can anticipate a period of 8-12 weeks duing which the MRI system will be off-line as we physically remove the Skyra and replace the scanner.  A timeline for the access shaft construction, MRI replacement, and facility renovations is yet to be established.  Later this month we will seek input from BIC users and other stakeholders within NHB on project scheduling, timelines, and communication strategies. 

To help in your experiment planning and continuity, regular updates will be shared with the BIC and NHB communities via email. We will also have a dedicated webpage on our Wiki <page link here> where you can access the most up to date information on the project.  After this construction and replacement process is complete, we look forward to welcoming you to our upgraded BIC facility featuring a new 3T Siemen’s Prisma!

If you have any questions, please get in touch.

Best wishes,

Doug

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