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CHANGING THE WORLD

What your investment in UT makes possible

Above: A rendering of the

east facade of the EERC.

Waller Creek winds through

the foreground.

Right and opposite:

Project design labs in

the EERC will provide

thousands of square

feet of flexible space for

learning and discovery.

CREDITS:Renderings byEnnead Architects.

DRIVING INNOVATION,

TRANSFORMING EDUCATIONBold plans call for an engineering epicenter at the University

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I

N TODAYS EVER-CHANGING WO RL D, ON E THING IS INCREASINGLY CLEAR: THE

need for innovative engineers has never been greater. Scientists and

engineers make up only 4 percent of the U.S. workforce, but their work

contributes to as much as 85 percent of the gross domestic product.

Preparing inventive, technically savvy engineers for a global economy is an enormous

responsibility, and UT is answering the call. The Cockrell School of Engineering

is educating more than 7,700 students at any given time, graduating 1,600 a year.

But it is doing so in outdated facilities and laboratories.

To catalyze a culture of innovation, and at thesame time propel a national top-10 engineeringprogram into the top five, the Cockrell Schoolhas bold plans for a new educational approachand new space: the Engineering Educationand Research Center, or EERC. At a total costof $310 million, the EERC will replace an obso-lete building with 430,000 square feet of openand flexible space for interdisciplinary teaching,research, and hands-on project learning. TheEERCs open lab design will allow visitorsinclud-ing K-12 students, employers, and industry lead-ersto become part of the engineering experience.

The EERC will serve as a campus anchor of

intellectual curiosity and energy, a platformfor transforming collaboration and innovationat UT, says Cockrell School Dean Gregory L.Fenves. It will provide a modern, stimulatingatmosphere equal to the excellence of our stu-dents and their extraordinary potential.

EDUCATING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

Over the long run, a universitys facultydefines its character and has the greatest influ-ence on its students and the future. State-of-the-art facilities are critical to attracting andretaining faculty talent in a competitive market.

Unfortunately, the Cockrell School, one of theworlds leading engineering programs, is train-

ing tomorrows leaders in exhausted and over-crowded buildings that are functionally obsoleteand lack flexible spaces for creating technology.

As the headquarters for a new ecosystem offaculty and student entrepreneurs, entrepre-neurs-in-residence, venture capitalists, andindustry leaders, the EERC will expand the

teaching by doing curriculum and foster a col-laborative network to move revolutionary ideasfrom the lab to the marketplace. Bright mindsfrom across campus and from industry part-ners will gather to address challenges in energy,health care, manufacturing, infrastructure, andspace and earth engineering. Interdisciplinary

faculty teams will gain access to these labs tocreate new technology and innovative ways tosolve important problems. The EERC also willprovide critical support and opportunities forUTs future medical school.

Through hands-on projects, engineering stu-dents learn about problem solving, as well as theimportance of teamwork, meeting deadlines,managing budgets, and dealing with adver-sityideal preparation for the demands of theworkplace. Currently, most students in theCockrell School participate in a design projecttheir senior year only. The schools vision is tohave every student involved in a project every

yeara critical component to recruitment andimproved retention of students in engineering.

PRight now, UT

students, faculty,

and researchers are:

ENHANCING

SATELLITE DATA

analysis to respond

faster and more

accurately to natural

disasters

UTILIZING

SUPERCOMPUTERS

to model human blood

flow, improve oil and

gas recovery, and

protect groundwater

EXPEDITING

RESEARCH METHODS

to find a cure for

Alzheimers and

Parkinsons

CREATING LONGER-

LASTING BATTERIES

for electronics,

electric vehicles, and

large-scale energy

storage

Engineers

Make aDifference

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CHANGING THE WORLD

What your investment in UT makes possible

Above, from left: An

atrium connects the EERCs

two wings, supplying natu-

ral light and a common area

for interaction; the western

side of the building inter-

faces with the rest of the

Cockrell School complex.

CREDITS:Renderings by

Ennead Architects; Jim

Truchard photo courtesy Ralph

Barrera/Austin American-Statesman

This vision will be possible only by buildingthe EERC, where undergraduates will designand build everything from unmanned aerial

vehicles and solar cars to potable water distribu-tion systems for underserved communities. Thescope and range of student projects will expanddramatically in 23,000 square feet of new teach-ing lab space.

Fenves says the combination of project-based learning and the EERCs flexible spacewill open up untold possibilities for discovery.

The mixing of ideas, people, and laboratories atthe boundaries of disciplines is where the mostintriguing and productive ideas and learningexperiences are found.

The EERC also will be the new home for theCockrell S choolslargest department,Electrical and Com-puter Engineering,currently housed inthe Engineering-Sci-ence Building (ENS),w h i c h w a s b u i l t50 years ago when

vacuum tubes werethe latest technology.The department willhave 100,000 squarefeet of modern teach-ing and laboratoryspace for its 65 faculty,650 graduate students,and 1,300 undergrad-uates. ENS will comedown to make roomfor the EERC.

Renovating ENSwas not an option, says UTs vice president

for university operations, Pat Clubb, PhD 85,MBA 96. Deferred maintenance, inadequate

electrical and mechanical systems, along withinsufficient space for the level of research andteaching the school conducts currently andwill conduct in the futureall of these makerenovation a cost-prohibitive prospect. Insteadweve opted to replace ENS with a facility thatwill meet the Universitys needs for the foresee-able future.

PRIVATE INVESTMENT IS KEY

Building the EERC will cost $310 million, ofwhich the UT System Board of Regents has com-mitted $105 million in Permanent UniversityFund bonds. In August 2012, the Regents alsoapproved the EERCs design plansa significant

milestone. Unlike inthe past, state uni-

ve rsitie s now ne edthe support of theprivate sector for newfacilities. The Cock-rell School is workinghard to raise the $105million in philan-

thropic funding fromindividuals, founda-tions, and corpora-tions that is neededto begin construction.

The U.S. has beent h e w o r l d s l e a d -ing economic powerb e c a u s e o f o u rstrengths in engi-neering, science, andmath, says S. Javaid

Anwa r, founder andCEO of Midland Energy and Petroplex Energy

and, with his wife, Vicky, parent of twins RyanAnwar, BS 12, and Leslie Anwar, BBA 12, Life

$105 million in private

funding will allow

construction to begin.

Sources: 2013 U.S. News & World Report graduate school rankings;schools new construction data, 20022012.

Not Everything is Bigger in TexasNew, state-of-the-art construction

at top-ranked engineering programs

from 2002 to 2012

+144,000sq ft added

UTAUSTIN

RANKED #8

+426,000sq ft added

RANKED #3

UCBERKELEY

+417,000sq ft added

RANKED #12

TEXASA&M

+1,181,000sq ft added

RANKED #4

GEORGIATECH

U.S. News & World Report

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Changing the World is produced by the University Development Office. Please send your feedback and suggestions to editor Jamey Smith at jjsmith@austin.utexas.edu.For more news and information about giving to UT, visit giving.utexas.edu.

Above: Jim Truchard,co-founder, president, andCEO of National Instruments

AN INVESTMENT IN THE

WORKFORCE OF THE FUTURE

M e m b e r s , w h ograduated from theCockrell School andMcCombs School ofBusiness respectively.

But we are fallingbehind, Anwar says.

That is why I choseto invest $4 millionin the EERC. Singa-pore, about the sizeof New York City, haspledged $35 billionto their universityresearch and sciencealone. If a country ofthat size can do that,surely we can domore in Texas.

Construction ofthe EERC is expected

to take four years. Depending on fundraisingprogress, it could begin within a year, allowingthe building to welcome its first occupants in2017. UT leaders are confident that when com-

plete the EERC will unleash the potential ofstudents and faculty alike, fueling groundbreak-ing discoveries and making a lasting economicimpact on Texas and the nation.

Go all over the world and there are CockrellSchool engineers doing what we say theyll dotheyre changing the world, says UT PresidentBill Powers. The EERC is the what starts herepart. The research and teaching that will takeplace there will create the engineers and innova-tors of the future.

Learn more about the EERC and how to supportit at engr.utexas.edu/eerc

Its a classic success story, and it never gets old. Aninnovator nurtures a great idea from humble begin-nings into a multinational company with a positive

impact across the world. The company is National Instru-

ments, and the innovator is company co-founder JimTruchard, BS 64, MA 67, PhD 74, Life Member. Truchardleveraged his innate talents, along with the consider-able grounding in physics and electrical engineering hereceived at UT, to create a system that revolutionized theway engineers and scientists collect and analyze data fortechnologies that improve lives.

Now, Truchard is bringing the companys core mis-sionempowering engineers to innovate solutionstothe University. How? By investing in the EngineeringEducation and Research Center (EERC), where a $10million gift will help fund the National InstrumentsStudent Project Lab.

I have been to universities all over the world and it

became very apparent to me that UT lacked a central

location where engineering students can innovate and

collaboratea place where they can learn by doing, says

Truchard. We need that place of critical mass and energy

where all the disciplines can come together.

For Truchard, supporting this centerpiece of the EERC

is about more than giving back to the University. Its an

investment in National Instruments future workforce.Headquartered in Austin, NI has more than 6,000 employ-

ees in 40 countries. We hire from many different areas

electrical engineering, computer science, mechanical

engineering, and increasingly biomedical engineering, he

says. Our professionals need to be flexible, creative, and

innovative to stay ahead of the curve. Their education is

a critical component to their future success.

Bringing math and physics to life for students in a

way that inspires them to think creatively and allows

them to succeed and fail with hands-on projectsthat

is just one of the many upshots Truchard and others see

in building the EERC.

The EERC will

provide a modern,

stimulating atmo-

sphere equal to

the excellence of

our students and

their extraordinary

potential.

Cockrell SchoolDean Gregory L. Fenves

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