LEE COUNTY, Fla.- Florida Gulf Coast University is about to get bigger. Construction crews broke ground Tuesday morning on a new 6.5 acre research and development center. It’s called the Emergent Technologies Institute (ETI). The complex will feature a 25,000-square-foot building off Alico Road northeast of the main campus. The ETI will support new educational initiatives, enhance regional workforce and economic development, and foster collaboration involving higher education, government and industry. The goal of the research complex is to not only fuel education at FGCU, but also to help grow the local economy, keep students working, and attract new business to Lee County. The institute will focus on technologies in environmental sustainability and renewable energy. The project is projected to cost over $12 million and to be completed by the end of 2015.