The University of Memphis is planning to build a 65,000-square-foot STEM Research and Classroom building.
The Daily Memphian reports that the facility will be an addition to Herff College of Engineering and include space for researchers from computer science and the College of Arts and Sciences, enabling them to collaborate.
“This is the first opportunity we have had, really in the history of the college, to design space specifically for research," says Rick Sweigard, dean of the Herff College. "That is going to make this space so much more amenable and is going to help us in attracting not only students but faculty as well.”
The $41 million building will swing out from Herff in a north-south trajectory on the east end of the campus.
In 2014, Herff’s leaders set the goal of doubling the number of engineering degrees it grants to 235 a year by 2023.
“Right now, we’re at 65% or about 190 graduates,” Sweigard says. “I think the new space will enable us to reach that goal. We are making steady progress, but I think we would have a real difficult time getting there without additional space.”
The Tennessee Legislature has approved $32.1 million for the project.
The addition is important in West Tennessee, which lags the national average in terms of the number of engineers it produces by 66%. For every 100,000 people, the U.S. graduates about 33 bachelor-of-science engineers. Combined, colleges and universities in West Tennessee produce 10 or 11.
The architects are A2H and SmithGroup.
