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OREM — Much like Utah County itself, Utah Valley University is experiencing rapid growth.
While this is a welcome sign for any university, it also presents some issues. For UVU, one such issue is the fact that the increasing number of students has led to some buildings not being able to keep pace with the growth trajectory.
This is certainly so for the College of Engineering and Technology — UVU led the state in terms of the total increase in engineering majors between 2018 and 2020 — and on Thursday, the university took the first step in remedying this issue by breaking ground on the Scott M. Smith College of Engineering and Technology Building, named after Qualtrics co-founder Scott Smith.
Smith and his wife, Karen Smith, gave UVU $25 million to help fund the building.
During the 2022-23 academic year, over 100 UVU students earned a degree in engineering. Now, the Scott M. Smith College of Engineering and Technology is home to 6,119 students, according to UVU President Astrid Tuminez.
"For the past five years, engineering programs have been borrowing space across campus," said Keith Mulberry, associate dean for academic affairs within the Smith College of Engineering and Technology. "Our faculty have been innovative in delivering high-quality education with limited resources, equipment and space."
Mulberry said that the new engineering building aims to alleviate this strain, calling it a "historical" moment for the university, faculty and students.
The new 180,000-square-foot, $88 million building will increase the square feet per student from 12 square feet to 60 square feet.
"The most interesting thing about it is actually that we are making this a smart building," Tuminez said.
The building will be equipped with smart sensors to monitor structural loading, heat gain and heat loss and vital internal and external environmental factors. It will use virtual and augmented reality to educate students and visitors about cybersecurity, structural design, building heating and cooling needs, human thermal comfort, indoor and outdoor air quality, water and energy consumption and waste and sustainability, according to the university.
"This is not just a building but it's an experiment," Smith said. "There are sensors in this building which have virtual and augmented reality and combine artificial intelligence so you can learn and you can make the building operate better. That's pretty remarkable to do that."
Along with the smart sensors, the new building will provide:
- Enhanced, collaborative learning environments using modular and flexible furnishings and spaces to accommodate emerging technologies.
- Experiential educational spaces and program-specific classrooms and labs that allow for hands-on learning experiences.
- Manufacturing facilities with designing, testing, and fabrication capabilities.
"You don't really teach engineering, let's say just purely online. People have to tinker. And so, the lab spaces and the technology are really important because that makes the learning experience come alive beyond the book," Tuminez said.
