School that partners built, The

ASEE Prism, Jan 1998 by McCullough, Lynda

Local government, industry, and education officials build a new engineering school at Virginia Commonwealth University.

In 1995, when Motorola was looking for an East Coast site for its newest engineering-research complex, it determined that Richmond, Virginia, had just about everything a company could want. First, plans were already under way at local Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) to build a new engineering school. Secondly, the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce was working with VCU to construct a biotechnology research center with a sterile "clean room" for semiconductor chip manufacturing at the new school, and local businesses had agreed to help cover the cost. Thirdly, state officials had pledged $5 million to endow engineering professorships at VCU and other nearby state colleges.

Today, Motorola is constructing a $3 million semiconductor plant on the east side of Richmond in Henricho County. At the same time, VCU's plans to build an engineering school and a biotechnology research facility (the Virginia Microelectronics Research and Education Center) on its campus are coming to fruition with support from local government, several Virginia universities, and local businesses-including new neighbor Motorola.

Motorola spokesman Dan Rogers says the company moved to the Richmond area because of VCU's new engineering complex and intends to work closely with the university and the community to promote their mutual interests. For example, Motorola engineering managers are now working with VCU staff to design the Virginia Microelectronics Research and Education Center's clean room, which will be used by campus researchers and local small businesses. Motorola representatives are also on the engineering school's advisory board and are consulting with the school on its engineering curriculum.

In return for Motorola's assistance, Rogers says, VCU will soon supply the company with full-time employees. Motorola's new plant could eventually employ up to 5,000 workers, making it one of the area's largest employers.

VCU is also working closely with several other businesses. Many of these companies are helping pay the start-up costs of the new engineering school and are providing internships and co-op opportunities for students.

Forecasting a Need

Plans for a new engineering school at VCU had been in the works before Motorola came into the picture. University officials assessed and verified the need for an engineering school as early as 1990 after Jim Dunn, president of the Greater Richmond Area Chamber of Commerce, asked the university to consider adding an engineering school. In response to that suggestion, VCU President Eugene Trani called for a feasibility study, and after consulting with chancellors and presidents of colleges with strong engineering programs from the University of Chicago, the University of Alabama, and Corpus Christi College, Trani concluded that VCU did indeed need an engineering school to support continued growth for the campus, the medical school, and the Richmond area. An additional study by the Center for Innovative Technology in Herndon, Virginia, also influenced the decision. It reported that Virginia must triple the numbers of engineering students it currently graduates if it is to meet the state's demands for technical employees.

On February 10,1994, when the university announced it would build an engineering school, the original cost estimate was between $18 and $20 million. Later that year, the university received a $10 million anonymous gift as well as an $11 million state appropriation to build the research center and clean room.

As interest and commitment to the school began to increase in the business community, especially after Motorola entered the picture, officials decided to double, and then triple, the size of the new engineering complex. When completed sometime in 1998, the 344,000-squarefoot, four-building complex will include a four-story, 113,000-square-foot classroom building and a 27,000-square-foot facility to house the Virginia Microelectronics Research and Education Center.

VCU's first class of 105 engineering majors, which began its programs in other campus buildings in fall 1996, will graduate in the year 2000.

New Inside As Well As Outside

The buildings aren't the only new things on the Richmond campus. VCU, in consultation with Motorola and Virginia Tech, has designed a new engineering program to employ innovative educational methods. The program stresses speaking, writing, and interpersonal skills as well as business concepts. All classes emphasize practical applications and hands-on experience.

Trani says the VCU program will focus on chemical and microelectronic research and its medical and manufacturing applications. The university is getting help from Virginia Tech in developing the electrical, chemical, and mechanical engineering programs for undergraduate and graduate students. The schools are also working together to develop VCU's biomedical engineering program. For help with a virtual reality microelectronics program, VCU turned to the University of Virginia.