The Austin E. Knowlton Foundation donated $15 million to Ohio State, planning to help complete the design and construction of a new Biomedical and Materials Engineering Complex on campus. Credit: Nathan Mader | Lantern Reporter
The Austin E. Knowlton Foundation announced Sept. 30 that it would give the university $15 million to help complete the design and construction of the new Biomedical and Materials Engineering Complex on campus.
Michael Hagenberger, associate dean for Facilities and Capital Planning, said as part of the final phase of the $90 million Gateway to Engineering project, the program plans to renovate MacQuigg Laboratories and connect it to the new BMEC in place of the now-demolished Watts Hall.
Hagenberger said the new complex will serve to update the out-of-date facilities currently in use to create desirable spaces focused on student and faculty collaboration.
“Back in the day, we weren’t worried about lighting and natural light and collaboration space and making a place where people wanted to spend some time,” Hagenberger said.
Hagenberger said the first phase of the project — which cost $59.1 million and was completed in 2020 — saw Mars G. Fontana Laboratories and old Koffolt Laboratories receive complete renovations with a 20,000-square-foot addition. He said both phases have an emphasis on bringing multiple engineering departments together to foster collaboration and community.
“If we put them in the same place, and they run across each other in the hallway, and they sit down and have a conversation, the likelihood that they would collaborate on projects and bring up more innovative research is there,” Hagenberger said. “We wanted to model that with the students.”
Hagenberger said the second phase will be 136,000 square feet, totaling 260,000 square feet for both phases. He said the goal is to start construction of the new facility in the spring or early summer, so students can begin using the building by 2025.
President of the Knowlton Foundation and Ohio State alumnus John Lindberg said Austin E. Knowlton — who founded the foundation in 1981 — graduated from Ohio State with an architectural engineering degree in 1931.
“[Knowlton] built 600 major buildings in Ohio, a lot of them on campuses,” Lindberg said. “He did a lot of work for colleges and universities in Ohio. And he always thought that, you know, education was key to his success and key to other people’s success, and so he really wanted to support higher education.”
Lindberg said the foundation has given more to Ohio State than any other college or university, and they are the largest donor to the College of Engineering with nearly $50 million in gifts.
“We have a good relationship with Ohio State, and our plan is to continue our partnership with Ohio State for the foreseeable future,” Lindberg said.
Hagenberger said the Gateway to Engineering project’s name comes from the plan to establish the new BMEC as a central area of the college.
“Every single engineering student at Ohio State will go through that building, and we’ve co-located it with the new administrative offices for the college,” Hagenberger said. “We’ve kind of outgrown our current facility.”
Hagenberger said the project is funded mostly by the state and the university but still has a $20 million development goal that is filled by gifts, donations and other contributions.
“The building doesn’t happen without them, right? And so, every single project needs what we call a champion donor, and they were the champion donor for this,” Hagenberger said. “And so, 15 of the 20 is a pretty big chunk to take out of that goal.”
Hagenberger said the BMEC will feature multiple different collaboration lounges to give students a variety of study and work environments to choose from.
“We’re seeing a big difference between where people are doing their work post-COVID as opposed to pre-COVID,” Hagerberget said. “The question was: how do we entice students to stay there?”
Hagenberger said the BMEC can get younger kids excited about science, engineering and becoming an Ohio State student through summer K-12 programs.
“We want to recruit the next generation of engineers and scientists,” Hagenberger said. “Why do I want 15,000 square feet to sit empty when I could start thinking about ‘What is the program that we could do that benefits the community, benefits Ohio, benefits the university?’”
