CompletionThe Boston Globe noted that the completion of the ISEC facility signifieswas the culmination of a major shift in the culture, history, and trajectory of Northeastern University.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/art/2017/08/17/isec-building-emblem-new-era-northeastern/enkFPPz6ICqTFGH34ENpYI/story.html|title=ISEC building emblem of new era at Northeastern - The Boston Globe|work=BostonGlobe.com|access-date=2017-11-29}}</ref> In the past ten years, the university's federal research funding has more than doubled, to the current $130 million a year, and Northeastern has hired 565 new tenured and tenure-track faculty in disciplines directly tied to its research goals since the 2006–2007 academic year.<ref name="globe-open" />
The ISEC building represents a $225 million piece of the $1.6 billion master plan for development proposed by Northeastern to the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) in November 2013.<ref name="cpexec" />
The complex has housed a variety of major research projects. The Human-centered robotics research group develops robots and assistive devices. In partnership with NASA, researchers are programming a 6’2” humanoid, Valkyrie, to explore Mars as soon as 2030, ahead of human explorers.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.northeastern.edu/isec/|title=Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering Complex (ISEC) - Northeastern University|last=https://www.northeastern.edu/marcom/|first=Northeastern University|access-date=2017-11-29|language=en-US}}</ref> This project represents a collaborative effort between Northeastern University, [[University of Massachusetts Lowell]], and NASA's [[Johnson Space Center]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/nasa-awards-r5-valkyrie-robots-to-mit-and-northeastern|title=NASA Awards R5 Valkyrie Robots to MIT and Northeastern|website=IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News|language=en|access-date=2017-11-29}}</ref> The research on brain and cognitive health uses virtual reality, computer modeling, and neuroimaging technologies, including fMRI, researchers design new ways to measure performance from youth to old age. Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute researchers are currently designing techniques to safeguard data and strengthen critical wireless and cloud-network infrastructure against attack. The research team responsible for drug delivery and structural biology designs small molecules, the basis of new medicines to treat schizophrenia, among other devastating diseases. Sculpted at the atomic level, this project develops molecules which must fit cell targets precisely to avoid causing toxic side effects. The translational biophotonics research cluster harnesses visible and near-infrared light rays to examine disease. To develop new optical technologies, engineers, physicists, and chemists collaborate with biologists and pharmaceutical scientists at Northeastern and medical experts at Boston's research hospitals.
