Groundbreaking participants Kate Davy (left), University of Michigan-Dearborn provost; Ayesha Salem, student, College of Engineering and Computer Science; Tony England, dean, College of Engineering and Computer Science; Daniel Little, UM-D chancellor; Nancy Gioia, Ford Motor Co. retired director of global connectivity, electrical and user experience; state Sen. David Knezek (D-5th District); Nigel Blakeway, chairman and CEO, Omron Management Center of America and Omron Foundation President; Robb Black, president, CEO and chief operating officer, Omron Automation Americas; and Dearborn Mayor John O’Reilly Jr. turn over the ceremonial soil April 20 during a groundbreaking ceremony for the new UM-D Engineering Laboratory Building.
By M.J. Galbraith
Metromode Media
DEARBORN — Tony England has good reason to be excited. As the dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, England gets to take part in what could be a transformative moment for the university: The construction of a new Engineering Lab Building.
A $90 million project, groundbreaking for the new Engineering Lab Building, or ELB, was celebrated thisApril 20. England expects an opening date of May 2020.
For England, a new Engineering Lab Building was long overdue. The original ELB was one of the oldest buildings on campus. And while it was designed well, it was designed well for 50 years ago. UM-D and its students need a modern building with modern amenities, England says.
All in all, through a combination of demolition, new construction, and partial renovations, the Engineering Lab Building will have grown from 93,000 square feet to 123,000 square feet of modern applications.
“Even though the building is a third larger, because of the flexibility built in, it will service twice as many students as the old building did,” says England.
The $90 million Engineering Lab Building on the University of Michigan-Dearborn is expected to open in May 2020. Groundbreaking ceremonies were held April 20.
Once opened, the new ELB will have collaborative spaces, hybrid classrooms, and adaptable labs. Clean rooms, essential to contemporary engineering, weren’t available at the old building, and students would have to travel to the Ann Arbor campus to access them. The new ELB will have those, as well.
The new ELB is the biggest of three improvements to the College of Engineering and Computer Science. A student project center was finished in 2016 and a prototyping building in the fall of 2017.
“These upgrades will make our facilities comparable to any modern engineering college of our size in the country,” says England.
(This story was reprinted from Metromode Media. It also is available at: www.secondwavemedia.com/metromode/devnews/UMDELB.aspx.)