Media Advisory: UB to Break Ground on New Engineering Building

The University at Buffalo will reach a major milestone in its UB 2020 strategic plan when it breaks ground for a new $61 million state-of-the-art classroom and laboratory building for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences today (Friday, April 24, 2009) on the UB North (Amherst) Campus.

Following brief remarks by UB and elected officials in Knox Lecture Hall at 3 p.m., participants will move to the building site between Ketter and Jarvis halls, where the groundbreaking for the new building will take place.

When the building is completed in 2011, researchers and industry partners working there will focus on technologies such as creation of innovative sources of power for electric vehicles and devices that store energy produced by such alternative energy sources as solar and wind.

Research conducted within this new facility will generate new technologies and jobs benefiting local corporations and the regional economy.

The new building will feature numerous sustainable building strategies, allowing it to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certification. Construction of the engineering building is expected to require approximately 100 skilled-trades jobs onsite.

Press arrangements: John DellaContrada, 361-3006, and Ellen Goldbaum 645-5000, ext. 1415.