245 Beacon St. Opening

ter in the fight against it.”

Upstairs, guests listened to faculty and student presentations throughout the building’s labs, work spaces, and common areas. In the fifth-floor home of the new Engineering Department, John W. Kozarich ’71 Chair of the Engineering Department Glenn Gaudette and his team explained how they grew sustainable meat proteins and human heart tissue on decellularized leaves of spinach. Next door, Yifan Zhou ’23 piloted a robot he had built from scratch, with omnidirectional wheels, night vision, and facial tracking.

Meanwhile, down the hall, history doctoral candidate Laura Clerx spoke with guests about the Schiller Institute’s multidisciplinary seminar on climate research, and Eddy Jiang ’22 presented on the Affirm Lab, a BC School of Social Work initiative working with the institute to reduce inequities for marginalized youth.

Jiang said that collaborating with computer scientists had been a mutual learning experience. “The beauty of the Schiller In- stitute is that it connects us,” he said, “but it lets us stay who we are.”

In the prototyping and maker spaces downstairs, students used state-of-the-art equipment toward creative ends. Will Gotanda ’25 had created a kinetic sculpture using the facility’s 3D printers and laser cutters, while Jasroop Dhingra ’25 had printed a new case for her cell phone. Their classmate Cyrus Rosen, who said he often leads training sessions in 245 Beacon’s woodshop, was building a set of drawer dividers for his mother’s birthday.

For human-centered engineering major Maggie Hynes ’25, the maker space known as The Hatchery is a space for exploration and new discovery. “I’d never seen a 3D printer or a vinyl cutter nine months ago, but now I consider myself proficient,” she said. “I love that anyone can access this space and learn, whatever they’re majoring in.”

In his words of welcome, University President William P. Leahy, S.J., said that the word “hatchery” was apt for describing 245 Beacon Street. “We are coming up with new ideas, new ways of exchanging ideas, and new ways of looking,” he said.

BC Trustee Phil Schiller ’82 summed up the evening’s proceedings during his benefactor’s remarks. Reflecting on the vision he and his wife Kim Gassett-Schiller had for the Schiller Institute and 245 Beacon as a whole, he told the crowd: “Come in during the day and see the students who fill the labs, the classrooms, and the halls with their creativity, curiosity, and enthusiasm. Because that’s what it’s all about, and that’s why we created this.”

John Shakespear is a senior digital content writer in the Office of University Communications