|
Groundbreaking scheduled for new Engineering Lab
By Irene Burgo
The College of Engineering will hold a groundbreaking
ceremony for the new Structural Engineering and Teaching Laboratory Building
on Oct. 28 from 5 to 6 p.m. on the Villanova campus. The Rev. Edmund J.
Dobbin, O.S.A., University president, will preside along with Dr. Barry C.
Johnson, dean of the College.
The laboratory building is being funded in part by
the W.M. Keck Foundation, which recently made a $500,000 grant award to the
College for equipment to enhance the Structural Engineering Program. The
Keck grant supports the College’s five-year strategic plan which includes
the construction of a new structural engineering laboratory. Based in Los
Angeles, the W.M. Keck Foundation was established in 1954 by the late W.M.
Keck, founder of the Superior Oil Company. The Foundation’s grant making is
primarily focused on pioneering efforts in the areas of medical research,
science and engineering.
The laboratory will house the equipment made
possible by the Keck grant that will promote an innovative undergraduate
curriculum designed by the grant’s principal investigators: Dr. Ronald A.
Chadderton, holder of the Edward A. Daylor Endowed Chair, and professor and
chair of the Civil and Environmental Department; as well as Drs. David
Dinehart, associate professor, Shawn Gross, assistant professor, Joseph
Yost, assistant professor, all of civil and environmental engineering, and
Dr. Rebecca Hoffman, assistant professor of mechanical engineering. The
laboratory will provide state-of-the-art facilities for undergraduate,
graduate and faculty research. It also will make the structural engineering
team more competitive in contending for both private and public grants.
“Our commitment to strengthening Villanova’s
Structural Engineering program is reflective of the national increases in
the enrollment in civil engineering,” said Dean Johnson. “The new lab will
significantly enhance the ability of the Villanova Structural Engineering
faculty to fully integrate modern research into the undergraduate
experience.”
Construction has been approved by Facilities Management Office to begin in
the fall of 2004. The building is expected to be completed by June 2005. The
grant was initiated by Joan Chrestay, associate dean for external relations
for the College. |
|
