The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) received three honors on the same day this week: the BNMC was named 2012 Outstanding Research/Science Park by the Association of University Research Parks (AURP); its Four Neighborhoods, One Community: Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Master Plan Update has been awarded the 2012 Planning Excellence Award for Comprehensive Planning by the New York Upstate Chapter of the American Planning Association (NYUAPA); and the Thomas R. Beecher Innovation Center, owned and operated by the BNMC, Inc., received the Innovative Design Award by international trade organization Global Workspace Association.
2012 Outstanding Research/Science Park Award by Association of University Research Parks (AURP)
Patrick J. Whalen, Chief Operating Officer of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc., was on hand to accept the award at AURP’s annual conference in Madison, WI.
“The Association of University Research Parks is pleased to announce the 2012 Awards of Excellence recipients and has named the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus the 2012 Outstanding Research Park,” said AURP President Kevin Byrne. “BNMC is a world-class medical campus that has created a strong community of innovation in Buffalo and throughout the region. We congratulate them for their outstanding achievements.”
AURP is a professional association of university related research and science parks. The association’s mission is to foster innovation, commercialization and economic growth through university, industry and government partnerships. More online at www.aurp.net.
Previous parks honored as Outstanding Research/Science Park of the Year include the Research Park at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center; Innovation Place (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada); Sandia Science & Technology Park (Albuquerque, NM); and Centennial Campus at North Carolina State University.
Read more about the award here.
2012 Planning Excellence Award for Comprehensive Planning from the New York Upstate Chapter of the American Planning Association 
In addition, NYUAPA announced that the Four Neighborhoods, One Community: Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Master Plan Update has been awarded the 2012 Planning Excellence Award for Comprehensive Planning. The 2012 NYUAPA Awards recognize outstanding work that is being done by planners and planning firms in Upstate New York. Planning Excellence Award for Comprehensive Planning recognizes plans that advance the science and art of planning.
“The Four Neighborhoods, One Community plan used a visionary wp-contentroach that engaged stakeholder groups in a significant way and leveraged their collective knowledge to shape the final product,” said NYUAPA Awards Committee Chairman Mark Castiglione, AICP. “What’s more, not only does the plan include excellent analysis, writing, and graphics, but it builds on and seeks to implement existing community and neighborhood plans. In doing so, the NYUAPA feel this plan is a model for others to emulate and is well deserving of this prestigious award.”
2012 Innovative Design Award by the Global Workspace Association
This new, annual award was given out at GWA’s annual convention today in Baltimore, MD. The award is given to a member with a center who developed an innovative or unique design that positively affected client retention or center ‘sale-ability’ by addressing a particular challenge presented by the building or the environment. The Innovation Center was honored for tenant amenities such as exercise balls, Xbox Kinect, pool table, electric car chargers, and more. 
The BNMC, Inc. is the umbrella organization created in 2001 by the institutions located within the Medical Campus. Our not-for-profit organization fosters conversation and collaboration among our member institutions, their 12,000 employees, and the community; coordinates activities related to sustainable planning, development and enhancement of our 120-acre space; and works to create a distinct, innovative environment that provides opportunities for entrepreneurship and active and healthy living.