Groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the new two-storey building that will house the laboratories for the College of Engineering’s (CoE) Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (IE) and Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME) on March 4.
The new structure, which will be built at the corner of Magsaysay and Apacible Streets beside the National Engineering Center, will be home to the laboratories and faculty offices for some 300 students and faculty of the IE and ME. The IE wing faces Magsaysay Street while the ME Apacible Street.
The IE wing is set to house four new laboratories, namely: Facilities Planning Laboratory, Quality Management Systems Laboratory, Usability Laboratory and Integrated Product Design and Development Laboratory.
The ME wing will house the Design and Manufacturing Center as well as some P212 million worth of equipment for the ME laboratories, with more to come in the future.
Construction, funded by the Engineering Research and Development for Technology (ERDT) program, was coursed through the Department of Public Works and Highways will begin this month, with the first floor to be finished by December.
Funding for the completion of the entire building (i.e., the second floor for faculty offices) is still being sourced, and will hopefully be completed by early 2011.
The ceremonies were attended by UP President Emerlinda Román, UPD Chancellor Sergio Cao, CoE Dean Rowena Cristina Guevara and the faculty members of both the IE and ME. A time capsule containing photos of the current faculty members as well as a program for the ceremonies was buried at the site.
–A.K. Regidor