Higher Education

While the drive to revamp engineering education continues to gather steam, the bold approach pioneered by the U.K.’s first new university in four decades is more revolutionary than evolutionary. Describing itself as “an unprecedented opportunity to inspire and teach a new generation of engineering talent,” New Model in Technology & Education (NMiTE) will debut with innovations such as a three-year degree program, unconventional admissions criteria, a mandate for gender balance, and a facilities design that won’t be finalized until students give it a trial run.

Tufts University opened the 177,000-gsf Science and Engineering Complex in October of 2017 in Boston. The $110 million project included construction of a five-story, 79,000-sf facility and the renovation of two adjoining halls. Designed to promote collaborative research in life science, neuroscience, and environmental science, the new building provides three floors of wet research space, four core facilities, two imaging suites, a mass spectrometer suite, four teaching labs, and seven meeting rooms.

Morgan State University opened the $79 million Martin D. Jenkins Hall in September of 2017. Housing five behavioral and social sciences departments, the 148,000-sf facility provides a 170-seat auditorium, flexible classrooms for traditional lectures or group learning, collaboration areas, and an instructional design development suite to support the continuing education of faculty. Designed by HOK and Quinn Evans Architects, the technology-rich building includes virtual reality computer suites and a makerspace with 3D printers.

Oklahoma State University opened the $45 million Tandy Medical Academic Building in Tulsa in September of 2017. Located at the OSU Center for Health Sciences, the four-story, 84,000-sf facility provides advanced simulation training suites including an emergency room, an intensive care unit, a birthing suite, an operating room, and an ambulance bay. The project also offers over 20 small breakout rooms, 18 exam rooms, three lecture halls, classrooms, conference rooms, study carrels, and a simulated hospital and manipulation lab for the College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Daley College broke ground in September of 2017 on a $45 million expansion and renovation project to create the Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing Center in Chicago. Designed by JGMA and CannonDesign, the project includes the recladding of an existing building and construction of a 57,000-sf addition. Supporting advanced manufacturing training programs, the facility will provide five engineering and production labs, three classrooms, high bay spaces, administrative offices, and student collaboration areas.

UT Southwestern is initiating a $480 million expansion of William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital in Dallas. Providing a consolidated location for medical specialties, the 12-story, 650,000-sf tower will house the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, 19 operating rooms, an emergency department, and acute inpatient care facilities. The project will provide 300 new beds and two parking structures. Occupancy is expected in 2020. 

Vanderbilt University’s new Engineering and Science Building (ESB) brings the physical sciences and engineering together to expand interdisciplinary research in biomedical engineering, energy, and materials; recruit faculty in areas of nanotechnology and environmental engineering; and create a new undergraduate research-focused culture on campus.

The University of Vermont celebrated the opening of the 100,000-gsf Discovery Hall in October of 2017 in Burlington. The interdisciplinary facility was designed by Ellenzweig and Freeman French Freeman to support STEM programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Discovery Hall provides 14 flexible teaching labs and 22 faculty research labs for the departments of chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science, mechanical engineering, civil and environmental engineering, and electrical and biomedical engineering.

Wexford Science & Technology broke ground in late September of 2017 on a $158 million innovation center in Providence, R.I. Cambridge Innovation Center and Brown University's School of Professional Studies have signed leases for space in the 191,000-sf facility, which will include civic and nonprofit conference venues, meeting rooms, and a café. Wexford is working with developer CV Properties of Boston on the delivery of the project. 

Savannah State University opened two new science facilities in September of 2017 in Savannah, Ga. The two-story, 30,000-sf Science and Technology Center provides labs and faculty offices for programs in chemistry, civil engineering, and electrical engineering technology. The 17,000-sf Marine Science Building features a deep water access facility and labs for dolphin survey, necropsy, fish ecology, ocean acidification, environmental toxicology, and coastal biophysics. 

Rutgers University-Camden dedicated the $62.5 million Nursing and Science building in September of 2017. Designed by Perkins Eastman, the 100,000-sf facility connects Rutger’s Camden campus with Cooper University Hospital and provides simulation training facilities, teaching labs, classrooms, computer labs, conference rooms, lecture halls, study spaces, and faculty and administrative offices.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham broke ground in late September of 2017 on a $39.5 million facility for the College of Arts & Sciences. Designed by Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood, the two-wing, 160,000-sf project will house the departments of anthropology, computer and information sciences, English, foreign languages and literatures, mathematics, philosophy, and social work. The technology-rich building will also include spacious classrooms, a 300-seat auditorium, administrative offices, performance areas, and a storm shelter.

Kent State University celebrated the opening of the $37.6 million Integrated Sciences Building in September of 2017 in Kent, Ohio. Designed by Ayers Saint Gross and built by Turner Construction, the 66,000-gsf interdisciplinary facility provides classrooms, teaching labs, research labs, and faculty offices for the departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Biological Sciences, and Physics.

The visually stunning, environmentally sustainable Cornell Tech graduate school opened this September on New York’s Roosevelt Island—a 12-acre stretch of land in the middle of the East River between Manhattan and Queens—creating what is intended to be a leading hub for technology education and business innovation in the center of the city. The new school was developed in response to a competition announced in 2010 by former mayor Michael Bloomberg to develop an applied-sciences and technology campus that could diversify the city’s economy beyond its traditional finance, advertising, and media sectors. Ideally, this new institution will transform NYC into the Silicon Valley of the east.

University of South Florida Health began construction in September of 2017 on a $173 million facility to house the Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute in Tampa. Designed by HOK, the 319,000-sf project will provide laboratories, learning spaces, conference rooms, faculty offices, an auditorium, a clinical trials unit, and a cardiac care facility. Sited in a $3 billion development created by Strategic Property Partners, the building is located near Tampa General Hospital and USF’s simulation training center.