Optomism and reflection highlight building dedication
Reflection on the past and an optimistic eye toward the future highlighted a number of speeches at the dedication ceremony for the new Engineering Building Thursday.
Lt. Gov. Olene Walker, Sen. Lyle Hillyard and Utah State University President Kermit L. Hall spoke to the overflow crowd about the importance of the new building.
Walker spoke about the past of the engineering program at USU and gave optimistic words toward the future potential of the program.
“When the old Engineering Building was built in 1968, there were 600 students,” she said. “Today in this building, the enrollment is around 1,600 students and we hope that it will grow.”
Walker expressed to the crowd the importance of the creation of a Science and Engineering Initiative by Gov. Mike Leavitt in helping the engineering programs at USU and the University of Utah grow.
“Gov. Leavitt said, ‘What I want to know is what would it take to have us become the center of some high-tech companies,'” Walker said.
The answer that outside firms gave Leavitt was that Utah would need 500 well-qualified, well-trained engineers, eager to get a job, right then.
Walker said the state put their faith in the programs at USU and the U of U and said both schools have made the state proud. She said the university would continue to do so in the future.
“Engineering students and faculty at Utah State cannot be surpassed by any other institution,” she said. “I’ve certainly become aware that your expertise in many areas is outstanding.”
Two areas Walker said USU engineering is excelling in is the number of students taking jobs in Utah and their starting salaries.
“Those students that go here make a great contribution to the state of Utah, 70 percent of the students take jobs in the state,” she said. “It’s no surprise that they start at very good salaries.”
Walker said the starting salary of a USU engineering graduate is between $48,000 and $52,000.
Hillyard echoed Walker’s words, saying the new building is only the start of great things to come for the USU engineering program.
“Have we done enough? Absolutely not,” he said. “[The building] is not a short-term investment, it’s a long-term investment, but it changes how we think.
“We are not done, this is only the beginning,” he said.
Three ribbons were cut to ceremoniously dedicate the building in front of an overflow crowd. One ribbon was cut by Associated Students of USU Engineering Senator Adam Jones, one by project donors Diane and David Sant and the third by Hall and Walker.
Hall was the final person to address the crowd. He said the new building fit into the theme of the university that could be summed up in four letters: IBDB.
“What it means is that the future of Utah State is summed up in those four letters,” Hall said. “Incrementally bigger, dramatically better.”
Hall listed off recent achievements of the university such as admitting the best-prepared class of freshmen in the history of the university and increasing the school’s graduation rate by 12 percent over the past two years.
“You realize this is the only institution in this state, this year, that has managed to grow both its size of its headcount as well as its [full-time enrollment,]” Hall said. “The challenge for Utah State is the challenge of competition and risk-taking.”
Hall said the new building is a structure, but it is also a magnet.
“It’s magnetism is directed by a force of bringing innovation, creativity, ingenuity and risk-taking,” he said. “Without competition, you do not get better.”
Walker said she looked into the future and saw great things for USU.
“I expect in the next 100 years that none of us standing here today can even visualize or even have the thought of what will take place,” she said. “Somewhere in the list of credits [of the future] will be an engineer from Utah State.”
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Study cubicles in the new Engineering Building feature ergonomic chairs and desk lamps. The area on the third floor will allow Engineering clubs to station representatives in the cubicles to give information to students. (Photo by Jaime Crane)
President Hall and Olene Walker, lieutenant governor of Utah, cut the last strand of the ribbon at Thursday´s dedication of the new Engineering Building. (Photo by Jaime Crane)