Along the Colonnade
New IQ Center Amps Up the Sciences
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new Integrative and Quantitative (IQ) Center on campus will be devoted to data acquisition, data storage, computation, visual imaging and innovative teaching methods. The center, located on the second floor of the Telford Science Library, is supported by a $1 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) as well as funds from the University and individual donors. Its first phase is underway, with a projected opening date of June 2013. “The IQ Center will be a stateof-the-art teaching and learning space where interdisciplinary questions can be tackled and answers sought through collaboration,” said Suzanne Keen, interim dean of the College and the Thomas H. Broadus Professor of English. “Not just science majors but all science students at W&L will now have the opportunity to manipulate and visualize information acquired through the scientific method.” “This generation is one of the most technologically savvy of all generations,” said Helen I’Anson, professor of biology and head of the Biology Department, who is directing the program. “So we want to use technology to get students excited about science and see that it isn’t scary, that it’s obtainable for them, and how important it will be for their future.” For science majors, exposing them to new technologies that are already available at large companies will increase their competitiveness, according to Jamie Small ’81, Midland, Texas. The former president of the W&L Alumni Board is a current
“This generation is one of the most technologically savvy of all generations. So we want to use technology to get students excited about science and see that it isn’t scary, that it’s obtainable for them, and how important it will be for their future.” —Helen I’Anson, professor of biology and head of the Biology Department
member of the Scientific Advisory Board; he majored in geology. Small and his wife, Alison, a geophysicist, support the sciences at W&L and enthusiastically invested in the IQ Center. “We’re in the oil and gas business, and we know that the imaging
The IQ Center will contain: ◗ Analytical Instruments Suite ◗ Traditional Computer Visualization Lab ◗ 3D High-Performance Visualization Lab ◗ Physical/Mechanical Experimentation Lab ◗ Large-Format and 3D Printing Room
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and technology that will be in the IQ Center are extraordinarily important for our line of work. The quicker students learn how to use this technology, the better off they’ll be moving forward through their advanced degrees and into the work force,” said Small. Although other liberal arts colleges have some of the new technology, W&L will be the first to have new technology that covers so many different areas in one space. “We’re hoping that this will be phase one for the technology and that later we can expand and upgrade the abilities of the center,” I’Anson said. “For example, we’re raising funds right now to add 3D imaging, which can do so much across all the majors, making W&L the first liberal arts college to have something like that,” she said.
Below: Alison and Jamie Small ’81 are excited about the IQ Center. Jamie serves on the Science Advisory Board.