(08-27-2021 03:16 PM)C-Finder Wrote: Great 
but the article is paywall
UAB will soon have another new building on campus.
The UAB Science and Engineering Complex will break ground on Aug. 31 at 14th Street South between University Boulevard and 10th Avenue South.
The complex will house all of UAB's natural science programs in the College of Arts as well as the engineering programs in the School of Engineering. The project is funded through future UAB bond funds and UAB plant funds, according to UA System documents. The total price tag is $76 million.
The building will establish a landmark structure that will identify UAB as the state’s premier research university and provide state-of-the-art facilities and technology to make UAB and the region more economically competitive.
“This impressive new complex will build upon UAB’s national and global leadership role in research, innovation and education,” said UAB President Ray Watts. “It will also accelerate our efforts to grow a robust, technology-based economy for our region and state and educate the science-based workforce of the future. The thoughtful design and strategic location will foster collaboration as never before — campus and community wide — as we train a talented and diverse next generation of leaders in the sciences and engineering.”
According to the University, as enrollments have grown and many college departments have faced significant challenges in finding space to educate and train both undergraduate and graduate students, it is imperative to UAB’s College of Arts and Sciences to build a facility that can support its goals of attracting faculty, increasing grant funding and training the next generation.
Carefully designed and strategically located, the facility will concentrate undergraduate and graduate classrooms and laboratories in a cohesive campus environment.
The 138,842-square-foot instructional facility will house classrooms and faculty and staff offices. The building will also include multiple collaboration rooms that encourage a team learning environment, including project-based research labs that allow for student shadowing.
“Science is central to modern life,” said Steven Austad, distinguished professor and chair of UAB’s Department of Biology. “The new Science and Engineering Complex will expand the College of Arts and Sciences’ capabilities to educate students and the public about the latest advances in science as well as provide the research facilities to ensure that we maintain our status as the premier scientific research institution in the state.”
The goal of the building is to enhance collaboration with other schools, including the School of Engineering, the School of Medicine and the Collat School of Business, while also fostering partnerships with business and civic leaders to facilitate critical local and statewide workforce developments to spur entrepreneurship and innovation.
“The architecture of the Science and Engineering Complex will reflect one of UAB’s shared values: collaboration. Having this space that is designed to promote interdisciplinary collaboration will escalate the productivity of our scientists. I am personally excited about how students will encounter this new space," said UAB College of Arts and Sciences Dean Kecia Thomas. "My hope and expectation are that they will identify as scientists early in their time at UAB as they occupy a space with other STEM students and develop a sense of a collaborative community. I look forward to breaking ground for this new facility, where there will likely be many breakthroughs by the scientists and students who will work here in ways that will transform and improve our community.”
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UAB set to break ground on science and engineering complex Aug. 31
