UNLV Breaks Ground on Advanced Engineering Building

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After nearly a decade of planning and fundraising, UNLV’s Howard R. Hughes college of Engineering broke ground on the new Advanced Engineering Building last week.

Rama Venkat became the dean of the engineering college in 2014, and since that time, the college’s student enrollment has doubled to over 3,000 students. And UNLV has reached Carnegie R1 “Very High Research” status. By 2030, the engineering college is estimated to have more than 5,000 students, graduate 500 students annually, and produce $20 million in research grants.

The project overcame many challenges including fundraising and COVID-19 delays. However, after a collective group of efforts among the university, legislate, and community donors, the project is moving forward and scheduled to open in January 2024.

The building is three-story, 52,000 square-foot, and is located between the Ham Concert Hall and Thomas T. Beam Engineering Complex Building A, across from the Cottage Grove Parking Garage on the Maryland Parkway campus. It will host labs for research areas including biomedical engineering, big data and cyber security, artificial intelligence, water resources and more.

The project costs $73.6 million with 50% percent of the fundings came from the 2021 Nevada State Legislature in its Capital Improvement Projects bill and matching funds from UNLV. To date, private support has generated $9.4 million in commitments to supplement university funding, enhance facilities, and reduce the carrying debt loan.

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