Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Building update

Ask anyone who teaches, shares lab space, or attends classes in the Mechanical Engineering Building and they'll tell you that renovating it truly is an investment in the future.

"The quality of the professors that we are hiring today in industrial engineering is better than any time that we've ever seen," says Professor and Chair Harry Steudel. "They are doing work with different types of experiments and equipment that is absolutely leading-edge. This requires more space for their labs and also gives us an opportunity for additional research funding."

The quality of academic and research facilities is very important for recruiting new faculty members, says Steudel. The current building, erected more than 70 years ago, he says, does not provide sufficient quality space. For example, his class meets in the building's lobby because it's the only space where his students have room to interact. In addition, existing classrooms lack technological infrastructure and limit instructors' ability to teach cutting-edge concepts, says Assistant Professor Harriet Nembhard.

"We need to bring, for example, a lot of the interactive work to the classrooms and to our labs," she says.

To study how new buildings at other universities successfully meet evolving needs, Dean Paul Peercy and the building's design team visited Georgia Institute of Technology, which has erected five new mechanical and industrial engineering buildings within the past 15 years. A common theme — flexible, reconfigurable space — emerged. "And we're very much modeling our building and new facilities on that concept," says Peercy.

Currently the building team is reviewing the architectural design and is awaiting detailed final drawings. Fund-raising is ongoing and features several giving opportunities for classrooms, labs and other facilities. To obtain a copy of the project's informational video, "Engineering a Bright Future," or to make a gift in support of the project, contact Director of Engineering Development Deb Holt at deb.holt@uwfoundation.wisc.edu or 608/263-0779.