Marshall University Alumni Association

Engineering building will be great asset for MU

The Herald-Dispatch, April 22, 2007

Note: During Marshall's Alumni Weekend, university officials used Friday night's kickoff event to unveil a new friend: a new, $3.5 million engineering facility. The as-of-now untitled engineering laboratory will rest on the corner of Third Avenue and Hal Greer Boulevard, across the street from Smith Hall. With 16,000 square feet of space and six lab environments, it's a key part of Marshall renewing its engineering program.

Marshall University has not granted a degree in engineering since 1976. That should change in late 2008 as the first student graduates from the school's reborn program, and more people should graduate in coming years.

Growth in Marshall's new engineering program is limited for the time being because the program does not have its own dedicated facilities, and lab space is limited. But things are about to improve.

Friday evening, Marshall officials announced plans to construct a building on 3rd Avenue across from Smith Hall specifically for the College of Information Technology and Engineering.

According to Tony Szwilski, interim dean for the college, the new building will have 16,000 square feet of space, most of which will be for labs. Szwilski said the building will have materials, soils, hydraulics and environmental labs, plus space for another lab in the future, probably in mechanical engineering. It will also have a classroom and three offices.

"This is extremely important for the College of Information Technology and Engineering. It is significantly important for undergraduate engineering programs because we need good, functional laboratories for accreditation of our bachelor of science, which we hope to achieve in 2009," Szwilski said.

To attract good instructors, the engineering program needs good lab space, and this building will provide that, Szwilski said.

Construction should begin in August and be finished in time for the opening of school in August 2008, he said. Parking spaces that are lost to the building will be relocated to the Weiler Steel property, Szwilski said.

Marshall President Stephen Kopp said Marshall will have a "powerful" program, and the new lab building will be part of that.

Kopp said Marshall lost its engineering program when enrollment in the state's three engineering programs was very low. Neither of the other two schools were near capacity, so in the large scheme of things, Marshall's program was seen as expendable.

But things have changed. Marshall has changed. Engineering is a vitally important field of study, and the need for engineers continues to grow.

Since the closing -- or "de-activation," as Kopp called it -- of Marshall's program, engineering education in West Virginia was the sole responsibility of West Virginia University and what is now WVU Tech. Tech's problems led to its absorption into WVU in 1996, although it operates as a free-standing four-year school with a community and technical college.

On Feb. 2, 2006, Marshall's board of governors voted to add a four-year degree program in engineering beginning that fall. Marshall had offered two years of engineering classes. Since the 1970s, engineering students at Marshall had to complete their degrees in collaboration with other institutions, including Tech and WVU.

How many engineers do we need? Considering the number of engineers who move to the United States from other nations, it's easy to say we need more than what America's universities are producing.

That requires significant investments in engineering education. Marshall is the logical place for a new or expanded program in West Virginia, given the population distribution in the state and the need in this part of the state for engineers.

The question is how to encourage high school students to consider a career in engineering. The field is heavy on math, after all, and many students shy away from math as if it were a communicable disease. But having a visible, growing engineering program at Marshall could help that effort. Marshall will have to promote its engineering program with the same vigor it uses to promote its growing biotechnology programs.

Some other initiatives Kopp is considering could help grow the engineering program, too.

The new lab building is just a start. If the success of other programs at Marshall is any indication, strong growth could be around the corner.