Raytheon is giving $2 million to the University of Arizona to spend on the College of Engineering’s Student Design and Innovation Center.
The planned 100,000-square-foot center, on East Speedway east of North Mountain Avenue, will include “collaborative classrooms, an advising center and the Raytheon Student Leadership Suite,” the UA said in a news release Thursday.
A student explains her group's project to judges during UA College of Engineering Design Day in this 2015 photo. Now, the College of Engineering is planning a Student Design and Innovation Center, which just got a fundraising boost from Raytheon.
The building will house large makerspaces for designing and constructing projects with 3D printers, electronic tools and machines.
“I look forward to building on the history of collaboration between Raytheon and the university as we work together to develop engineers who are uniquely prepared to take on the national security and other significant challenges of the future,” said UA President Suresh Garimella.
Raytheon, a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics, has made contributions to the UA for decades, including gifts that support experiential learning in engineering and STEM initiatives across campus.
The center “is a testament to the university’s dedication to nurturing future engineers, equipping them with the resources and environment they need to turn concepts into groundbreaking solutions,” said Barbara Borgonovi, president of Naval Power at Raytheon and a member of the College of Engineering Dean’s Advisory Board, in the news release.
Construction of the center will begin in the next two to four years, depending on fundraising.
