“The Engineering Design and Innovation Building has been called a ‘hub of making,’” said Anthony Atchley, acting dean of the College of Engineering. “The classrooms, labs and a state-of-the art maker space coalesce to create a facility where students can take their ‘what ifs’ and ‘I wonders’ and turn them into viable answers to pressing societal needs.”
In the past few years, ideas from Penn State engineering students grew from “what if” to the world’s first yarn made from squid protein, which could help reduce plastic pollution from textile production, as well as the first computational model of the inner ear’s Bast valve, which led to the discovery of a previously unknown contributor to Meniere’s disease.
“The essence of innovation spurring such projects — and the curricula that enable them — is the backbone of the College of Engineering,” said Justin Schwartz, interim Penn State executive vice president and provost and the Harold and Inge Marcus Dean in the College of Engineering. “Engineers look at impossibly large problems and say, ‘I have an idea,’ and then we work together, testing that idea, reimagining it, prototyping it, until we produce a solution.
“Here in the Engineering Design and Innovation Building, we stand on the precipice of potential, in a place of possibility,” he added.
The new building demonstrates Penn State’s continued commitment to the success of its students and will help accommodate the unprecedented growth the college has experienced over the past 15 years, according to Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi.
“Current and future students who study and use the Engineering Design and Innovation Building will continue to be among the most sought-after talent among employers,” Bendapudi said. “I look forward to the breakthroughs and achievements that this and future generations will create here.”