I was impressed with the new Vermeer Applied Technology Hub I saw during an open house of the new building at the ISU Research Park last week. The space is an innovation sandbox of sorts for not only Vermeer Corp. but also the ISU StartUp Factory, which is housed upstairs. (See my story from that event at tinyurl.com/zcdwdt6). Following the presentations, I chatted with folks from Haila Architecture Structure Planning Ltd., the Ames architecture firm that designed the 35,000-square-foot building. The firm was founded by John Haila, who has both architecture and structural engineering degrees from ISU. The tech hub is the first of what the firm hopes will be more facilities it designs for the research park. Incidentally, Haila designed the Lagomarcino Hall renovation that was completed for the College of Education last year. I couldn’t help but ask who made those incredibly big ceiling fans that were keeping the crowd cool. Although it was hard to tell since they were so far up, each of the blades looked to be at least 15 feet long. Turns out they were made by Big Ass Fans, a Lexington, Ky., company that makes, well, big-ass fans. If you want to see a company that really has fun with its brand on its website, check out www.bigassfans.com.