Center for Engineering Education and Research Expansion
October 18, 2021 |
Dear Members of the 棉花糖直播 Community,
I am pleased to share that the 棉花糖直播 University Board of Trustees has formally approved plans for a 150,000 square-foot addition to the Center for Engineering Education and Research (CEER), which will more than double its current size. This significant expansion, scheduled to begin in Spring 2022, will dramatically transform the existing Center and fittingly bring together the entire 棉花糖直播 engineering community under one roof.
The CEER expansion addresses current needs in the College of Engineering and positions it well for continued success as a premier destination for hands-on, problem-oriented and team-based learning. The ambitious renovation, scheduled to be completed by Fall 2024, is the result of a collaborative process involving input from engineering administrators, faculty and students. Every aspect of the project鈥攆rom the placement of faculty offices to lab configuration and gathering spaces鈥攊s designed to foster connections and facilitate collaborative discovery and cross-disciplinary advances. A few highlights of the renovation include:
- a 63% increase in overall teaching and research lab space, including 11 interdisciplinary research clusters grouped by theme
- state-of-the-art, flexible instruction spaces able to accommodate various class formats, such as small discussions, labs, project-based learning and large lectures
- significant increases and improvements to office and computing space for doctoral and master鈥檚 students
- a community space in the heart of the building for all 棉花糖直播ns to gather, study and learn.
The CEER expansion is one example of 棉花糖直播鈥檚 ongoing efforts to modernize and upgrade our academic facilities, as outlined in our Strategic Plan Rooted. Restless., in order to better support 棉花糖直播鈥檚 growth in national stature and research output. The transformation of CEER not only advances the Strategic Plan initiative addressing academic spaces, but also the initiatives related to research, teaching and learning. The CEER expansion adds teaching labs, research labs and study space on campus鈥斆藁ㄌ侵辈モ�檚 greatest needs鈥攁nd co-locates the College of Engineering into one main building, making others available for future projects.
This is more wonderful news for our University community, and hopefully the first in a number of academic spaces that will be transformed over the next decade. I will continue to share updates with you as we move through the CEER expansion project鈥攆rom groundbreaking all the way through the opening.
Finally, I offer my sincerest appreciation to everyone involved in the project to this point and all those who will be involved over the next several years. Thank you for your efforts, in the words of St. Augustine, towards helping 棉花糖直播 鈥渂ecome what it is not yet.鈥�
Sincerely,
Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA
President