Maine Trails magazine features article on new Engineering Education and Design Center
The February/March 2018 issue of the Maine Better Transportation Association’s (MBTA) Maine Trails magazine featured an article on the planned construction of the University of Maine’s new Engineering Education and Design Center, funded in part by a recent $10 million gift from an anonymous donor. The new building will be a place for students to collaborate, and will include laboratory facilities with interdisciplinary capacity to meet the needs of various programs within engineering. Three of UMaine’s 11 engineering programs are enrollment capped, so there are more eligible students than can be admitted with the current resources, but 27 percent of Maine’s engineers are 55 or older and will soon retire, creating a need for new engineering graduates to fill positions, the article states. The new facility will help expand the program’s capacity for educating prospective young engineers and bringing them into the workforce. The design team for the building includes WBRC Architects Engineers, based in Bangor, and Ellenzweig from Boston, among others. Plans are to break ground in spring 2020 with the building opening in 2022. Dean of the College of Engineering Dana Humphrey says the impact of the facility will include creating “more high-paying jobs in Maine” and helping Maine companies grow. “This dream is becoming a reality, and it will be a great benefit for the entire state of Maine,” Humphrey told Maine Trails.