An architectural rendering of the university’s proposed engineering and technology building, which is being designed by the architectural firm HED.
New Home for Innovation Building will be center for engineering program and information technology Pitt-Bradford plans to break ground this year on a new academic building this year that will be the center of technology and innovation on campus and across the region, chock-full of rapid prototyping machines, oscilloscopes, engineering lab stations and more to provide hands-on technical learning for students. The new engineering and technology building – the first academic building built in nearly 20 years – will be home to the campus’s technology services, growing computer information and systems technology major and two new engineering technology programs – mechanical engineering technology and energy engineering technology. Engineering technology students will have hands-on labs and study applied mathematics. They will create on their own in a maker space full winter 2021
of milling machines, lathes, welding equipment, metal-cutting technology and 3-D printers and scanners. They will test their products – building them, destroying them, and building them again stronger. They will learn all of these steps in brand new labs for fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, strength of materials, electrical circuits and exacting measurements. Students in mechanical engineering technology will be able to design and build a prototype for an industrial process. Energy engineering technology students will add to their knowledge about geology, combustion, automation and sensors, biofuels, wood chemistry, wind and solar power, and the chemistry of petroleum and natural gas. Graduates with engineering
technology degrees can apply to the same jobs as those with engineering degrees. They take similar classes in math and engineering, but everything is focused toward practical applications. It is similar to a current successful program at Pitt-Bradford that will exist alongside the new fouryear engineering programs, computer information systems and technology. In the project lab and glassenclosed spaces, students from various tech-based majors will spend energy drink-fueled hours collaborating on projects and learning skills, both hard and soft. “We are so excited about this project and what it will do for our students, for regional employers and for our communities,” said Dr. Catherine Koverola, Pitt-Bradford’s president. “Students in this new building will use state-of-the-art PORTRAITS
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