Facilities
Weldon Innovation Wing
Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering Building
The worlds of science, medicine, and education are changing in profound and powerful ways. Academic disciplines long held separate are finding rich opportunities for collaboration, and industry is working to translate the results into products that will revolutionize medicine and healthcare. Educating tomorrow's researchers and leaders who will make this reality requires new, innovative strategies -- and facilities.
With the aid of a generous grant from the Whitaker Foundation, the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering partnered with BSA LifeStructures, Inc. to develop a new, unique facility.
Facility Design
The resulting design enhances discovery on multiple levels, from encouraging student and faculty interactions with informal and formal gathering spaces to strategically aligning research facilities, so as to maximize sharing of both traditional and non-traditional resources.
In areas where a need for continual adaptation is expected, from interpersonal interactions to technology changes, provisions were made to allow quick modifications to meet future needs.
"As the complexity of research grows, a variable, interdisciplinary approach is needed. This, in turn, requires more flexible and interconnected laboratories and classrooms."
George R. WodickaPhD Professor and Head
Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering
One example of this adaptability is the design of the "Flex Lab" instructional laboratory space. This centralized space for engineering design courses has been provided with a "dance floor" arrangement with overhead services that easily allows benches and other mobile equipment to be quickly reconfigured for the varied aspects of prototype design and testing.
Innovative Instructional Spaces within Weldon
The strategic location of the Weldon Building functions as a gateway between the academic campus and the expanding, translational research-intensive Discovery Park area of the university.