UW-Platteville's new engineering building nears completion
PLATTEVILLE - Workers are readying classroom equipment and furniture while others complete landscaping at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville's new engineering building as the scheduled Dec. 13 ribbon-cutting draws closer.
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle will speak at the 8 a.m. ceremony to open the $25.6 million, 108,500-square-foot building at the corner of Southwest Road and Longhorn Drive. Commencement for UWP's fall semester is later in the day.
The project is on budget and on time, said Lisa Riedle, associate dean of the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science, adding that the much-needed building will be put to use immediately.
"We hope to have 90 percent of the items moved in and in working order for the start of second semester," she said.
The new building will be home to electrical engineering, engineering physics, physics and the general engineering labs as well as the Nanotechnology Center for Collaborative Research and Development. Student organizations also will have work space.
"Almost the entire first floor is dedicated to student projects," Riedle said, adding that there will be many display cases to show off student work.
Plans for the new engineering building were driven by a need for more space as enrollment and other program needs had grown past the capacity of the Ottensman Hall, the current engineering building. The possibilities presented by the new building extend well past providing more space, Riedle said.
"It's really given us an opportunity to enhance our high-tech programs," she said. "Electrical engineering, for instance, is advancing on a daily basis. Incorporating some of that fast-moving technology is going to be key for our professors and our students."
While some areas will move to the new building and others will remain in Ottensman Hall, Riedle stressed that the change gives UWP the capacity necessary to foster growth in all areas.
"For all of our programs to have the opportunity to grow, we need to give them the space to do so," she said.
Discussions already are under way for an extensive renovation of Ottensman Hall. That could be included in the 2011-13 state budget, she said.
The new engineering building also will include physics classrooms that will allow professors to integrate lectures and lab activities into a single class session. Lectures and labs now are conducted separately.
The building will have more than 300 computers, many dedicated for special equipment. There will be three computer labs, facilities for distance education and nine study areas for students.
Riedle said the new engineering building makes a commitment to keep UWP as a cutting-edge engineering program.
"We're going to be educating our freshmen for jobs that don't even exist now," she said. "We want to give them the best possible advantages we can."
For more information about the engineering building, contact Riedle at (608) 342-1686 or riedle@uwplatt.edu.
Contact: Lisa Riedle, associate dean, College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science, (608) 342-1686, riedle@uwplatt.edu Written by: Gary Achterberg, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194, achterbergg@uwplatt.edu