Thursday, September 09, 2010
Ribbon-cutting and open house for Business and Engineering Center is October 10
Contact for more information:
Wendy Knipe Bredhold Media Relations Specialist, News & Information Services 812/461-5259 The $31.9 million building houses the College of Business and the Department of Engineering, including faculty offices, classrooms, and laboratories. Dr. Scott Gordon, dean of the Pott College of Science and Engineering, said, "The co-location of business and engineering in this facility was purposeful. We are living in a science and technology-based economy where collaboration in design, development, marketing, and business planning is a necessity. We're going to give students the experience of being involved in a product from design to development to marketing to sales." Donor funding of $2 million for programming support, including 36 leadership gifts of $25,000 or more, helped make the Business and Engineering Center a reality. Forty-four alumni supported the project with gifts of $1,000 and over. The building's 122,210 square feet include 11,470 square feet of common space intended to encourage collaboration by allowing students to continue conversations begun in class or fraternize with students from other disciplines. Student spaces include the O'Daniel Atrium, the Vectren Lakeside Study Lounge and Balcony, and smaller lounges on each floor. Dr. Mohammed Khayum, dean of the College of Business, said, "We had several aspirations in the design of the building. One was to make the space conducive to innovative and creative thinking by designing a space that would allow students' paths to cross and at the same time create a sense of energy and activity. These collaborative spaces allow business and engineering students to find intersections across disciplines." Khayum said that other institutions offer facilities and resources comparable to those in USI's Business and Engineering Center, but few have all of them under one roof. The building's "smart" rooms utilize the latest technologies. Classrooms are equipped with over-sized whiteboards that serve as screens for two LCD projectors. In specially-equipped distance education rooms, each desk holds a microphone that cues a camera to focus on a student when he or she speaks. A student conference room is outfitted for international videoconferencing so USI students can collaborate with students abroad. Special features include: - The Bussing-Koch Foundation Stock Market Laboratory, including a stock ticker display and interactive teaching walls (in and outside the lab) that allow students to check stock exchanges in real time and history. - The Russell L. McKinney Entrepreneurship Laboratory, painted with IdeaPaint that allows students to write ideas on the walls. Desks are on wheels so they can be moved into configurations suited to students' needs. Laptops are charged and ready for students to use during class. The lab also includes video recording equipment and interview space. - The Old National Bank Sales Suite and Joseph P. Coslett Sales Management Development Laboratory, which utilize one-way glass and video recording capability to provide students with a heightened awareness of their sales strengths and weaknesses and allow for instant feedback, focus group research, product comparisons, etc. - The Lloyd C. Hahn Engineering Design Center, providing students with dedicated lab space to conceptualize and prototype engineering designs. - The Ron and Connie Romain Board Room, modeled after a corporate board room to give students a simulated professional environment for presentations and provide meeting space for advisory boards to the College of Business, the Department of Engineering, and community groups. -The Kahn Dees Donovan & Kahn Decision Support and Negotiations Lab utilizes an equalizing decision-making process that neutralizes the impact of personalities and authority figures in a group situation. - The Judith A. and Robert E. Griffin Experimental Economics Laboratory, a new field in economics including desks that can be fitted with dividers to reduce the influence of others. - A radio-frequency-shielded room in the engineering electronics lab for experiments in which all cell, radio, and other signals must be blocked. - Three collaborative work stations allow users to plug their laptops in and share information instantaneously on flat screens. - Three lecture halls, including the John D. Lippert Lecture Hall with three projectors and distance education capability. Green features The Business and Engineering Center meets or exceeds standards for Green building. Natural light illuminates the building through upper-level clerestory windows, skylights, and light wells. Motion sensors turn off electric lights when spaces are not occupied. Light-colored roofing reduces the heat island effect and conserves energy. Approximately 20 percent of the materials used in construction were recycled or regionally-sourced. Khayum said, "The technologically advanced learning environments in classrooms, laboratories, and special spaces will be tremendously helpful in fostering entrepreneurial thinking and innovative behavior. In the context of demographic, global, and technological forces that are driving profound change in our society, this building gives us an added capacity to address the changing needs and expectations of students and faculty and to prepare students to develop professionally and make an impact in their communities." Better Together - Evansville Living The Push is on at USI - Evansville Courier & Press |
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