AU dedicates new engineering building Friday afternoon

Staff Reports
Published: April 18, 2008

The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering at Auburn University will dedicate the Sen. Richard C. and Dr. Annette N. Shelby Center for Engineering Technology in a ceremony today at 3:30 p.m. in the grand foyer of the new $54 million facility located east of the Lowder Business Building on Magnolia Avenue.

The event, presided over by Dean Larry Benefield of the College of Engineering, will include remarks by Auburn President Jay Gogue, Board of Trustees member Sam Ginn, U.S. Senator Richard Shelby and Dr. Annette Shelby.

Tours of the new center will be available before and after the dedication ceremony, from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. A variety of exhibits will be on display, including robots developed by engineering researchers, by AU students for intercollegiate competitions and by area high school students participating in the BEST robotics program.

“The Shelby Center for Engineering Technology will enable Auburn Engineering to create a superior learning and research environment that keeps pace with today’s emerging engineering fields,” said Benefield. “Sen. Shelby has played a vital role in our ability to develop this state-of-the-art facility, and he, as well as our committed alumni and friends, can take pride in knowing that they are enabling a new generation of engineers to reach their full potential.”

The college is pursuing a vision to become one of the top engineering programs in the country. The cornerstone of this vision is the Shelby Center, a sophisticated complex that boasts modern classrooms, lecture halls and flexible laboratories to support a variety of disciplines. Sen. Shelby’s efforts helped secure $30 million for the first phase of the $108 million center.

The first phase of the Shelby Center is the new home of the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering and the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, as well as administrative offices and student areas. Site preparation has already begun on the second phase, which will consist of a new Mechanical Engineering Building and an Advanced Research Laboratory Building.

To learn more about Auburn’s newest building, read Saturday’s edition of the Opelika-Auburn News.