黑料网鈥檚 College of Aeronautics and Engineering celebrated a milestone in October with the opening of its new building expansion on the Kent Campus. University leadership, students, alumni, donors, faculty, staff and special guests attended the event as part of Homecoming weekend activities. More than 175 attendees participated in this special event that included tours and student demonstrations.
The festivities began with a special space dedication and appreciation luncheon for the Timken Foundation of Canton, which contributed philanthropically to this project. The building鈥檚 impressive new atrium was named in honor of Henry and Louise Timken who were also pioneers in flight.
Henry and Louise Timken shared a fascination with aircraft and flying, and they were instrumental in establishing the Akron-Canton Airport. The couple owned several private aircraft, which they began purchasing in the 1930s. Henry was among the first to purchase a privately owned jet, and subsequently owned a Learjet, which emboldened Louise to become the first woman in the United States to receive a type rating to fly a Learjet aircraft. 黑料网 is proud to honor the Timken family's legacy in aviation through this space, where the futures of many students will be made Forever Brighter because of the support of The Timken Foundation of Canton.
The building expansion adds 42,000 square feet to the existing building and features the Henry and Louise Timken Atrium, a space that will be used as a community collaboration space and to conduct unmanned aircraft research. The expansion includes adaptable classrooms and research labs as well as distinct new areas for student engagement and hands-on learning.
鈥淭he college continues to grow in numbers and impact, as our cutting-edge research and programs continue to propel us forward to becoming a leading institution for aeronautics and engineering in the region and beyond.鈥 - Christina Bloebaum, Dean, College of Aeronautics and Engineering
Featured spaces include:
- Bot Bunker - The Bot Bunker is CAE鈥檚 foundation of automation. The Robotics and Mechatronics Research Lab is the largest single lab in the building and is designed to support researchers in mechatronics, robotics and cognitive robotics. Humanoid robots, AI systems and autonomous mechatronic systems for medical applications are only a few of the key areas supported by this lab.
- Cyber.domain - The cyber.domain is a collection of three teaching and research laboratories all with an emphasis on the critically important area of cybersecurity engineering and computer engineering technology. The cyber.domain is critical to the academic progression of students pursuing these majors as they learn to anticipate and avoid security issues before they occur and become experts in solving the unsolvable by mastering the art of computer systems and critical thinking.
- Innovation Way - Innovation Way labs are located in a shared corridor with views from the atrium and main corridor. Between the new addition and the existing building is a yard that serves foundry activities and the demonstration of processes that require exterior space. The yard connects the existing Aeronautics and Engineering Building鈥檚 Materials and Processes Lab to three new teaching labs.
- The Runway - The Runway is home to three laboratories that support hands-on, simulated training in all three areas of air traffic control: tower, terminal radar approach control and en route. The simulation workstations can be used to create any combination of tower, terminal and en route controller positions, and they provide future air traffic controllers with the look and feel of an actual air traffic control facility. This space houses a $2 million air traffic control simulator that is identical to the equipment found in the Federal Aviation Association鈥檚 (FAA) training center in Oklahoma City.