Hands-on learning

This interactive engineering complex serves as a communication hub for hundreds of students and faculty and is a crucial link between the engineering school and the campus. The myriad of activities happening within the facility are visually united by the building's dramatic public space, a three-story atrium backed by a translucent screen system.

A "hands-on" discovery lab and auto shop provide design and fabrication space for undergraduate students competing in national engineering competitions. An innovation center offers woodworking, metal, and welding shops. Class-1,000 through Class-10 cleanrooms provide the controlled environments required for ongoing research in biomedical engineering, nano- and micro-technology, and plasma manufacturing. Also included are research labs, offices, and presentation spaces for graduate and undergraduate students.

As architect of record, Flad worked collaboratively with building design architect Kohn Pedersen Fox.