(Published Wednesday, January 17, 2007 12:36:54 PM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
By Frank Schultz Gazette staff
UW-Rock County will boast a new facility next fall that is expected to boost the local economy, and its construction won't cost taxpayers anything.
Officials opened bids for the construction work Tuesday. They then held a press conference to discuss the new engineering-laboratory addition at the Janesville campus.
Local companies have pledged to pay the entire cost of the 4,300-square-foot building addition.
The structure will be the home of the new four-year degree program in electrical engineering offered entirely at UW-Rock by UW-Platteville. Students began taking classes last fall. Fifty are enrolled in the program or taking prerequisite courses, officials said.
Angus Young Associates of Janesville provided this computer image of the new UW-Rock County engineering facility.
Many of the students work for local companies in engineering-related occupations. Their average age is over 30. They take advantage of classes offered evenings and Saturdays.
Companies backed the project in large part because it could supply them with homegrown engineers at a time when engineers are in short supply, said John Beckord, president of Forward Janesville.
"Long-term, this could be a remarkably valuable, valuable tool, not only to recruit new companies … but more importantly to help with existing companies that we keep in this county, who need this critical skill going forward," Beckord said.
Forward Janesville and the Greater Beloit Chamber of Commerce joined forces to raise the money. The project's appeal was so great that one of the first contributors in the Beloit area was from an engineering company across the state line in Roscoe, Ill., said chamber President Nancy Forbeck.
"I think it's a great example of when Beloit and Janesville decide that together they can do something that they probably couldn't do separately," Beckord said.
The lowest of five bidders on the project was Bob Kimball Construction of Janesville, with a bid of $665,000. However, officials dropped a $60,000 construction alternative. That made Kimball's bid $605,000.
The architect is Angus Young Associates of Janesville.
Groundbreaking is expected in March or April. The building should be ready in time for fall-semester classes, officials said.
Equipment for the engineering lab will push the price tag over $700,000.
Pledges have surpassed $773,000 for the building and equipment, announced Scott Bordwell, president of the UW-Rock Foundation. The foundation will donate the building to the campus. Fund-raising is continuing.
One addition that would be possible if the foundation could raise $25,000 is solar panels on the building's roof.
The photovoltaic panels could power some of the lab's equipment and would become part of UW-Rock's engineering and science courses, said Michael Pierick, UW-Rock assistant dean.
The idea was the result of requests from students, faculty and staff.
Pierick said solar power is a normal part of any electrical engineering program. If the panels and associated equipment are purchased, the program would add solar to its other emphasis options for engineering students. The other emphasis options are computers, controls and communications.
The new facility will be able to send and receive compressed video, which will allow UW-Rock to telecast classes to remote locations and also to receive classes from elsewhere.
Eventually, mechanical engineering classes that UW-Platteville offers at UW-Fox Valley in Menasha will be transmitted to UW-Rock, while UW-Rock electrical engineering classes will be transmitted to UW-Fox Valley, Pierick said.
Engineering center details
The new UW-Rock County Engineering Center at UW-Rock will house:
-- A classroom area.
-- A workshop area.
-- Offices for four instructors.
-- Offices for a program manager and an assistant.
-- Storage space.
-- A design that allows construction of a second story if program growth warrants.
-- Room for students to search job opportunities and meet with employers.
-- Access through Williams Hall as well as a separate entrance that eventually will include parking on Williams' southwest side.
