MacLAB Fund Supports Leading-Edge Facilities ALMOST A MILLION DOLL ARS HAS BEEN INVESTED in engineering labs and equipment over the last two decades, thanks to the MacLAB Fund. In 1997, engineering students voted to establish and contribute to an endowment fund dedicated to maintaining and upgrading the faculty’s undergraduate labs, computers and equipment. Twenty years later, the MacLAB Fund has collected $3.57 million. Interest from the fund – officially known as the McMaster Laboratory Advancement Benefaction Endowment Fund – has provided money for purchases of $906,157.79. “It’s the kind of faculty where you always need to obtain better, more up-to-date equipment,” says Janet Loebach, who initiated the fund during her 1997 term as MES president. From oscilloscopes to mounting presses to milling machines, the fund provides grants to support a wide range of projects across departments. Funding requests can be initiated by faculty members or students, with the intent of ensuring students have up-to-date equipment to expose them to the most recent developments in their fields. Recent years have seen annual disbursements
Senior level Chemical Engineering students working on contaminated water experiment
of between $60,000 and $100,000. The fund also provides money for special projects. In 2014, it supplied $2,500 to the McMaster Baja Racing team for the purchase of a TIG Welder. The welder has expanded the range of parts the team can design and manufacture for the off-road vehicle, says team lead Joel Squire. “The portability of the welder has allowed us to make repairs in the field and continue in competition, even after Membrane treatment of contaminated component failure.” water, Chemical Engineering While alumni and faculty have supported the fund, the bulk of the MacLAB money has come from an annual voluntary $50 tuition contribution from students. The MacLAB endowment committee, made up of students, faculty, staff and alumni, reviews applications and hands out annual grants. Any full-time undergraduate engineering student can serve on the committee.
Plasma cutter, Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2017
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