Development Of Multifunctional Laboratories In A New Engineering School

Abstract

Abstract NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract 1 - Session 2213 Development of Multifunctional Laboratories in a New Engineering School C. Stewart Slater, T. R. Chandrupatla, Ralph A. Dusseau and John L. Schmalzel School of Engineering Rowan College Glassboro, NJ 08028 Abstract Laboratories have been designed for the ultimate flexibility to serve the new Engineering School at Rowan College. A special feature of the new Henry M. Rowan Hall will be flexible laboratory modules that will allow for future modifications. The new engineering programs will be hands-on and team oriented and thus rely heavily on laboratory space to meet program objectives. Several examples of multifunctional laboratory spaces are those that can be utilized for clinic projects, multiple disciplines, teaching/research, and those that accommodate multiple course instruction. Introduction In 1992, Henry and Betty Rowan pledged a $100 million gift to Glassboro State College [1]. Mr. Rowan is the founder and CEO of Inductotherm, Inc. which has headquarters in Rancocas, New Jersey. Inductotherm is the world’s leading and largest induction melting equipment manufacturer with plants located internationally. The gift has challenged Rowan College with the opportunity to develop an innovative and forward looking engineering school. The Rowan School of Engineering will educate engineers who will serve as innovators and entrepreneurs for the future. As the State’s comprehensive institution for Southern New Jersey, one of the missions will be to contribute to the economic growth of the region. With the help of the industrial community the School of Engineering will help set the pace for engineering education into the 21st century. The Rowan School of Engineering offers baccalaureate degrees in Chemical, Civil, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science in Engineering degree. From these classic disciplines new directions emanate through technology focus groups. Currently the technology focus groups are qManufacturing / Processing Engineering s Environmental Engineering qInformation / Communications Engineering qComputer Engineering / Robotics The technology focus groups will provide for the maximum interdisciplinary interaction among students for projects and in technical electives and required courses. These areas will be continuously monitored to stay on the leading edge and to change focus topics as technology advances. The School is not highly structured with formalized departments to foster the greater multidisciplinary aspect of the educational process. The Engineering School will begin undergraduate classes in Fall 1996, which will form the founding group of students, the “Class of 2000.” Students have been recruited from the Middle Atlantic and Northeast $iH’ 1996 ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings } ‘.,J~Dllyc..$ .