Gwinnett Daily Post

LAWRENCEVILLE -- Two of the county's largest colleges had cause for celebration in 2011 as they opened new major facilities on campus, marking milestones for both institutions.

Students, teachers and legislators came out in September to mark the grand opening of the new 78,000 square-foot life sciences center at Gwinnett Tech.

The center, which opened for fall semester classes in August, serves 3,000 students annually, enabling the technical college to accept additional life sciences and health care professionals.

Combined with its existing facilities, the college now has more than 140,000 square feet in two buildings on campus dedicated to health science education.

Fellow college officials over at Georgia Gwinnett College celebrated the opening of a new 24,000-square-foot instructional laboratory facility on campus in August.

The state-of-the-art building serves an estimated 900 biology majors.

Funded by the University System of Georgia, the $7 million structure features modern, multi-disciplinary laboratories and an instrumentation core.

Georgia Gwinnett College is located at 1000 University Center Lane, Lawrenceville. The institution opened its doors on Aug. 18, 2006, as the nation's first four-year public college founded in the 21st century and the first four-year public institution created in Georgia in more than 100 years.

Gwinnett Technical College is located at 5150 Sugarloaf Parkway, Lawrenceville. During its history, Gwinnett Tech has expanded its campus to include a variety of new facilities, including the new life sciences center, the corporate training center, environmental horticulture center, the computer training facility and the George Busbee International Center for Workforce Development.

For more information, visit www.gwinnetttech.edu or www.ggc.edu.