All-Around Innovation

BY CHELSEA ROBINSON

New Undergraduate Lab will widen the realm of unique at OSU

INNOVATION IS FLUID.

IT’S AN EVER-EVOLVING CONCEPT THAT MORPHS TO FILL GAPS IN TECHNOLOGY. IT’S AN OMNISCIENT IDEA OF WHAT SOCIETY NEEDS TO REACH NEW HORIZONS. IT’S THE ASPIRATIONAL FOUNDATION OF THOUGHT-LEADING ENTITIES LIKE OSU’S COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND TECHNOLOGY, AND IT’S TAKING FORM IN THE NEW UNDERGRADUATE LABORATORY BUILDING.

Enrollment in the college has been on an exponential increase over the past five years, demonstrating both a positive response to the need for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professionals and boosting the need for additional facilities. Current CEAT students receive an exceptional education as part of OSU’s land-grant mission; the proposed building will enhance that experience through opportunities for practical application of theory. The building will foster a multidisciplinary atmosphere for students of all areas of focus to interact and learn.

The Floor Plan

Designed with the future of engineering education in mind, the facility will house more than 72,000 square feet of stateof-the-art lab space. Three floors will include 17 labs, several design suites, a two-story test arena, seminar rooms and sticky spaces. The labs will support a wide range of academic fields throughout the college, including:

Mechatronics + Robotics

Instrumentation + Sensors

Energy + Power

Unit Ops + Environmental Flow Systems Materials + Design Industry-Aligned Labs Fabrication Lab + Shop Spaces

The building will allow faculty members to develop and implement new pedagogies focused on how undergraduate engineering, architecture and engineering technology students understand, apply and innovate engineering principles and operations.

Randy Seitsinger, associate dean of academic affairs, says the building will be a teaching tool in every aspect. Parts of the building’s systems will remain exposed, so students can learn about the construction, operation and sustainability of a modern building. The concept of the facility is to keep the focus on multidisciplinary education, making it a place where the college as a whole comes to work together.

The Functionality

Students from throughout the college will be able to combine their areas of study through group and capstone projects. The ability to work with other disciplines as part of an undergraduate degree program will give students a wellrounded experience that better prepares them to enter the workforce.

“The new laboratory building will be an innovative hub of learning that shifts the college’s pedagogy from a traditional engineering education to a robust combination of theory and systems education with hands-on applications in order to better educate and prepare the next generation of engineers,” says

“The new laboratory building will be an innovative hub of learning that shifts the college’s pedagogy from a traditional engineering education to a robust combination of theory and systems education with hands-on applications in order to better educate and prepare the next generation of engineers.” — Paul

Tikalsky, College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology dean

Paul Tikalsky, dean of the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology.

This experience will be unprecedented, setting OSU apart from its peers.

“This facility will make CEAT the only place in the United States where engineers, architects and technologists can come together in an academic setting,” says Seitsinger. “This venue will help students understand how important collaboration is and how vital the other disciplines are to the big picture.”

CEAT works with industry partners to ensure it is providing the skills and knowledge needed in today’s society and industry. College leadership is eager to build on CEAT’s long-standing partnerships in determining ways to educate the next generation of engineers, architects and technologists.

Seitsinger says the industry recruits employees who can collaborate with people outside their discipline. The CEAT Undergraduate Laboratory Building will help these companies’ future employees be better trained, setting them apart from other graduates.

The Future

The space between the Advanced Technology Research Center (ATRC) and the Donald W. Reynolds School of Architecture Building, south of Boone Pickens Stadium, is set to transform into one of the premier engineering lab buildings in the region. A groundbreaking ceremony is planned for Oct. 22. Construction should begin shortly after the groundbreaking, and the first classes are scheduled to be held in the new building in fall 2018.

CEAT is in a time of tremendous growth, and it is dependent upon the support of alumni, friends and partners. Several leadership gifts have built up momentum for the projects, and the college looks forward to connecting with those who are interested in participating in this next step.

There are countless ways to support the future of engineering, and the most impactful is through a contribution to the Engineering Building Fund (26-71500). To change the lives of thousands of engineering, architecture and technology students and bring the college into the next era of education, visit osugiving.com/yourpassion/ ceat-undergraduate-lab.

Watch a video about the CEAT Undergraduate Laboratory Building and see how this new, innovative facility will alter engineering education at OSU: http://okla.st/2cR6KQJ