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UB breaks ground for engineering building
University administrators and local lawmaker use special UB shovels to break ground for the new engineering building. Photo: NANCY J. PARISI
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“This new building will boast facilities not previously available to UB researchers, students or industry partners.”
UB reached a major milestone in its UB 2020 strategic plan on April 24, breaking ground for a new $61 million state-of-the-art classroom and laboratory building for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences on the North Campus.
Designed by renowned architects Perkins + Will, the 130,000-square-foot structure will increase UB Engineering’s facility space by nearly one-third, accommodating significant new growth in the engineering school’s student enrollment, faculty hires and research expenditures.
Funding for the building was secured through a public-private partnership between New York State and private donors. The state provided $49.6 million from previous budget cycles to the project, and UB Engineering is raising additional funds from private donors.
“I want to thank our leaders in state government and our generous donors for their leadership and foresight in supporting our vision for the university, its engineering school and the community at large,” said President John B. Simpson. “This new building will boast facilities not previously available to UB researchers, students or industry partners. Researchers within this building will produce technological advances and engineering breakthroughs that will generate new opportunities for local companies, spin off new businesses and help create high-paying, high-skilled jobs critical to our region.”
The new engineering building will be home to the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and the Department of Electrical Engineering, modernizing their programs and facilities. Both departments play key roles in advancing two research strengths identified in UB 2020: information and computing technology, and integrated nanostructured systems.
UB researchers working in these areas will focus on such fundamental and applied technologies as creation of innovative sources of power for electric vehicles and devices that store energy produced by alternative energy sources like solar and wind. They will collaborate with industry partners to create new devices to personalize the delivery of medicine or protect society from bioterrorism.
“This major step forward for UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences is testimony to the dramatic growth in the productivity of our faculty and the significant increases we are seeing in the numbers of superior students who want to study engineering and computer science at UB,” said Harvey G. Stenger Jr., dean of UB Engineering.
“Because we work with nearly 200 Western New York companies each year and a significant number of our graduates embark on engineering careers at companies in our community or elsewhere in the state, the quality of our students has a direct impact on the local and regional workforce and economy,” said Stenger.
The building is expected to be completed in 2011. Its construction is a major project for “Building UB,” the university’s comprehensive physical plan—a key component of UB 2020. This spring and summer, UB is launching $362 million in construction projects on the three campuses, as part of Building UB.
Construction of the engineering building is expected to require approximately 100 skilled-trades jobs. By 2012, more than 2,900 new construction jobs will be created as the result of Building UB, according to estimates developed by the university. UB’s growth is projected to add nearly $1 billion a year to the local economy and has the potential to create 10,000 new jobs by 2025.
Assemblyman Robin Schimminger said the groundbreaking marked a “good day for our shared vision of a resurgent Western New York” and was another example of the state’s “investment in UB and its plan for the future, UB 2020.”
“We look forward to watching the new state-of-the-art School of Engineering and Applied Sciences building rise on campus and to seeing its benefits expand into the wider community in the form of new economic and employment opportunities,” he added. “Ultimately, the reach of the research and training to be conducted here and the advances in knowledge and technology that are gained will extend worldwide.”
Sen. Dale M. Volker said the state’s “critical investment in the new engineering building will make a profound impact in modernizing its programs and will produce advanced research that will bring about new economic development opportunities and diversify our region's economy.”
“This is a tremendous day for the University at Buffalo, the Western New York region and for the State of New York,” he added.
The engineering building will feature numerous sustainable building strategies, allowing it to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold certification as determined by the U.S. Green Building Council.
The building will include a 5,000-square-foot “clean room” that will allow students and researchers in electrical engineering to create such innovations as powerful solar cells, ultrasensitive biosensors and disease-curing nanoparticles in a germ-free environment. The building also will feature a “cybertorium,” or “smart” auditorium, outfitted with the most sophisticated communications devices and smart technologies. Flexible research labs, classrooms and meeting areas will foster interdisciplinary work.
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