The University of Michigan-Dearborn partnered with Granger Construction to replace an existing engineering laboratory building with new, state-of-the-art structure to create a more collaborative, active learning environment for engineering teaching and research.
- The project included construction of a three-story building that reused a portion of the existing concrete frame structure, with 66,000 SF of new building space and 33,600 SF of renovated building space.
- The new ELB features 6 general classrooms, 40 teaching and research labs including cybersecurity, human factors, bioengineering, robotics and new materials along with 24 faculty offices.
- Modern, flexible classrooms allows for a variety of different room layouts by simply rearranging seats and tables and moving retractable walls to better accommodate demand, something that wasn’t possible with the existing static classrooms and lecture halls.
- Dedicated labs that replicate industry environments provides students excellent opportunities for research with faculty, training and career preparation.
- Labs are equipped with centralized gases and water supplies for research and experiments and clean rooms for sophisticated materials preparation. Additional labs accommodate newly added programs and additional faculty research opportunities in mechanical and electrical technologies, mechatronics, robotics and other emerging fields.
- The new ELB also allows UM-Dearborn to double its number of engineering graduates and continue to be a premier pipeline of talent to Southeastern Michigan and beyond.
This project received an honorable mention for the Engineering Society of Detroit 2022 Building Design & Construction Awards.