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If you’d like to support a project you read about in this magazine, or are curious about department-specific opportunities, contact us today: Courtney Billing
Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
612-626-9501 • cbilling@umn.edu Jennifer Clarke
Industrial and Systems Engineering Mechanical Engineering 612-626-9354 • jclarke@umn.edu Anastacia Davis
Electrical and Computer Engineering Institute for Math and its Applications 612-625-4509 • aqdavis@umn.edu Raechelle Drakeford
Corporate Partnerships
612-626-6874 • drakeford@umn.edu Kathy Peters-Martell
Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics Chemistry 612-626-8282 • kpeters@umn.edu Emily Strand
Computer Science and Engineering Medical Devices Center School of Mathematics
612-625-6798 • ecstrand@umn.edu Shannon Weiher
Biomedical Engineering Earth Sciences School of Physics and Astronomy
612-624-5543 • seweiher@umn.edu Shannon Wolkerstorfer
Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Saint Anthony Falls Laboratory
University of Minnesota alumni leave legacy in CSE spaces Driving vintage sports cars in Brainerd, Minn., is a hobby Clifford Anderson shares with Professor Emeritus Patrick Starr. It was Starr who introduced Anderson, a 1962 University of Minnesota business graduate who started his collegiate life at CSE (then-called Institute of Technology), to former dean Steven Crouch— who was enthusiastic about Starr’s education philosophy and the University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project he advised for 14 years. In 2008, Anderson made his first significant contribution to the project. In 2018, Anderson honored Starr by dedicating a new campus workspace for the student group in his name. The Patrick J. Starr Solar Vehicle Project Laboratory, which opened last November, is just one of many capital projects in which Anderson and his wife, Nancy, have invested. Their support of the college, he said, is motivated by wanting to educate “multi-tasking” engineers.
The Patrick J. Starr Solar Vehicle Project Laboratory was made possible by a $1 million gift from Clifford and Nancy Anderson, pictured here with past CSE dean Steven Crouch (left) and current dean Mos Kaveh.
“The U is very famous for research, but it is also a main source of graduating engineers,” said Anderson. “I’m very much interested in helping the education of engineers beyond the blackboard and lecture. Our economy needs engineers who can work with others and who have broad perspective—engineers who can explain what they’ve built and also why it’s cheaper or more reliable.” The Andersons are also the people behind three Clifford I. and Nancy C. Anderson Student Innovation Labs on the East Bank. Nearly 600 CSE students use the labs at least once each semester. The 10,000-square-foot hands-on learning space includes a design lab with 3D printers and laser cutters, a machine shop with state-of-theart manufacturing equipment, and a third space with a 3D scanner and woodworking equipment. In addition to the named spaces, the Andersons have generously supported the Lind Hall renovation and updating instructional labs across the college. “I always asked the dean, ‘what is it you need that you’re not getting from the budgeting process?’” said Anderson. “If what he
612-626-6035 • swolkers@umn.edu
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