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Mugundan Prakash, who moved to the United States from India last July to complete his degree, said he couldn’t imagine a better place to finish his education than UNLV. The 21-year-old electrical engineering graduate student has spent the past few months working on a drone that can test soil in areas affected by wildfires.
Computer science graduate student Breanna Geller has become more interested in terrestrial inventions. Her work involves creating a self-driving race car, and her current goal is to create a team on campus to travel internationally with their creation – which is about the size of a remote control (RC) toy car. It’s the first invention of its kind at UNLV, she said.
Geller and Prakash began their graduate programs late last year, and while their disciplines may not have merged before, they will now have even more opportunities with the completion of the Advanced Engineering Building at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
“It’s awesome,” Geller said of the new building. “I think there’s a lot of ingenuity in this building, they had a lot of great ideas… (and) if you’re sitting next to an electrical engineer and you’re like, ‘I don’t know what this does, can you explain it to me? ?”
The Advanced Engineering Building (AEB) supports UNLV’s efforts to become a technology hub in the state.
On February 23, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) unveiled a three-story, 52,000-square-foot “idea incubator and innovation generator” adjacent to the Thomas T. Beam Engineering Complex on the northeast corner of campus. .
The building features a sleek metal design and many open windows that complement the Howard R. Hughes School of Engineering, which was established in 1976.
University officials and state leaders believe the Advanced Engineering Building will “drive innovation in Southern Nevada.” Engineering and computer science student enrollment is expected to increase by 25 percent by 2030, said Rama Venkat, dean of the College of Engineering.
“This advanced engineering building will allow us to sustain our growth and support our vision for a bright and exciting future for the college, campus and community,” Venkat said.
Venkat delivered a speech at the inauguration ceremony of the building. He said that the new building is “student-centered and collaborative in design” and has open dry and wet laboratories for students to share research results.
Computational and dry labs will be used for projects in emerging security technologies, including robotics, circuit design and cybersecurity, while wet labs will provide space for research on water management, energy solutions and biomedical applications.
There is also the first Knee Classroom, a spacious lecture hall with auditorium-style seating that folds away when needed, turning the classroom into an event or study space. Geller, who works in the bending room, said she often uses the room to build tracks for her self-driving race cars.
Another highlight is the collaborative makerspace – which features technologies such as 3D printing and laser cutting, as well as “accordion-style” doors to help students easily transport their projects – or a drone aviary for students to fly in separate Practice in space.
Venkat explained that the building will also be a boon to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Southern Nevada as a whole. About two-thirds of University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ engineering graduates will find high-paying technology jobs in Nevada, Venkat said, and the research produced at the Advanced Engineering Building will “drive the creation of new startups in Silicon Valley.”
Venkat expects faculty members, who last year received $17 billion in research funding, the most in the college’s history, will find even more support through their work in the new building. He expects $25 billion in research funding by 2030.
In his speech at the opening ceremony, UNLV President Keith Whitfield said that the building will become a center for innovation and solution-based research.
“The ideas and research this building will generate will be able to drive solutions and innovation, opening pathways that allow us to adapt, grow and overcome difficulties,” said Whitfield. “This state-of-the-art facility exemplifies the University’s commitment to A commitment to staying at the forefront of technological advancement.”
He added that AEB will not only provide students with classroom space, but will also provide them with greater opportunities to succeed and access to modern tools and collaborative projects.
The building won’t open for classes until fall 2024, but students are already using the space to work on projects or even just study.
On opening day, Prakash placed his soil-testing drone on a post on a new table on the second floor of the AEB. It had only been a few weeks since he moved from the science building to AEB, and some of his equipment was still stored in cardboard boxes.
“Whatever we needed, they provided us with everything. … We were able to work on our project very quickly, which made it easy to complete,” Prakash said of his experience moving into the Advanced Engineering Building. said, noting that cutting-edge tools and ample space help.
According to the 2023 State of the Technology Workforce Report released by information technology certification agency CompTIA, the expected growth rate of technology jobs in the United States over the next 10 years is nearly twice the national employment growth rate. Last year, approximately 48,600 people in Nevada were employed in technology or worked in the industry, with software and IT support specialists being the most common roles.
Local leaders believe the industry is set to grow, especially as Southern Nevada welcomes more companies, such as Haas Automation and Brightline West, to the region and capitalize on the expanding tech industry to diversify its economy.
“We know Las Vegas is known around the world as the entertainment and sports capital of the world, but now, for generations to come, we will also be known as A center of cutting-edge science and technology.” at the opening ceremony.
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