College of Engineering announces plans for expansion
The College of Engineering plans to build a new Engineering Development Center adjacent to the College's main building on campus to accommodate its burgeoning academic and research programs, Dean Ralph Kummler has announced.
Plans for the new building accelerated April 29 when Governor Jennifer Granholm signed into law portions of her Jobs Today Initiative, which includes $15 million in construction costs for the proposed Engineering Development Center. Chemical Engineering alum Yousif Ghafari has pledged $9 million to the university, part of which will go to build the new engineering center. An additional $1.8 million for the new building will come from the Ford Motor Company.
"We've been out of space for half a dozen years," said Kummler. "This expansion will house growth in critical research areas, provide interface space with TechTown, and enable undergraduate and graduate students to share and innovate as an integral part of their educational experience."
The main College of Engineering building is located at the corner of Anthony Wayne Drive and Warren Avenue. Ghafari Associates, of Dearborn, Mich., is the architectural design firm selected by the University. Cost for the new building will not be determined until a final design is completed and approved, although a preliminary estimate is $26 million.
The project immediately moves to the forefront of Engineering's Capital Campaign, which it has embarked on in concert with Wayne State's first comprehensive capital campaign. The public phase of the campaign will be launched with a special campus event May 24. The intent of the campaign is to actively expand major program areas through new space and facilities, and through initiating an Honors Undergraduate Program that brings the top undergraduate students into its research and development laboratories.
"We aim toward becoming the top urban research engineering college in the country," Kummler said. "The commitment of the College is to strengthen research concepts from its laboratories, to development and commercialization, as well as tothe classroom. Our vision keeps our graduates on the leading edge of the workforce in Michigan and the world, and an entrepreneurial attitude that results in spin-off companies from faculty and student research."
Kummler listed six program areas poised to gain the most from the new Engineering Development Center. They are: 1) the Smart Sensors and Integrated Microsystems lab; 2) the Advanced Propulsion Lab, which is advancing fuels, emissions and vehicle wear automotive systems, as well as studies on advanced hydrogen fuel cells to power homes, businesses and vehicles; 3) the Nanotechnology Lab, which focuses on advanced research in surface science, tissue engineering, drug delivery and biomaterials; 4) the Urban Infrastructure Research Lab, which focuses on infrastructure and transportation systems with a particular focus on urban environments; 5) the Interdisciplinary MEMS/NEMS Lab, dedicated to interdisciplinary research on micro/nanoelectromechanical systems; and 6) the Team-based Student Project Lab, dedicated to national collegiate projects such as Formula SAE and alternative energy powered vehicle competitions.
The Michigan state House bill authorizing funding for the new building signed into law by Gov. Granholm is part of appropriations to institutions of higher learning authorizing accelerated construction projects for 11 universities and 13 community colleges, totally $200 million.
Ghafari, a prominent metro Detroit businessman and chairman of Ghafari Associates Inc., has pledged $9 million to Wayne State. The money will be used to support the new Engineering Development Center and endowments for student programs and scholarships, as well as endowments in mathematics, engineering and medicine. The university's North Residence Hall will be renamed in honor of Ghafari, who is also a Bloomfield Hills resident and member of the capital campaign steering committee.
Ghafari, who immigrated to the United States from Lebanon in the early 1970s, enrolled at Wayne State in 1972 and earned three degrees. Hei earned his bachelor's in mathematics in 1974; a master's in applied mathematics and computer applications in 1975 and a master's in chemical engineering in 1977. He became a U.S. citizen in 1978.
"When I first came to the United States to attend college, I didn't have any idea of where to go," Ghafari said. "My uncle suggested I go to Wayne; it wasn't far away, it was affordable, and they accepted me. Just a few years later, I had the education I needed to become a licensed engineer and start a company. Wayne State provided me with an excellent education I could not otherwise have had access to or afforded. It gave me my start in the United States and I am very grateful."
The College of Engineering at Wayne State, with more than 2,600 undergraduate and graduate students, offers a wide range of fully accredited engineering disciplines. Its well-respected graduates represent a large force in Michigan industry and the engineering field.