The Dale E. and Sarah Ann Fowler School of Engineering is set to open its first official facility in July 2021: the Swenson Family Hall of Engineering. Named after the family who donated $5 million toward the $19 million project, the new building will introduce state of the art technology and immersive methods of instruction through new equipment and innovative learning spaces.

“Having a brand new state of the art space really shows the commitment that Chapman has to having one of the strongest engineering programs in the area,” said Helen Norris, Chapman vice president and chief information officer.

Before this addition, the university lacked the high-end, professional lab and collaboration space that Dean of Fowler School of Engineering Andrew Lyon said is typical of engineering programs at other universities. He believes this cooperative, application-based experience is critical in rounding out the academic experience of engineering students.

The new building — which began its construction June 15, 2020 — will feature a makerspace, a robotics lab, an ideation space, open study pods and an interconnecting staircase similar to the amphitheater stairs in the Keck Center for Science and Engineering. The openness in architectural design was a conscious decision to “allow the students to feel at home in the space,” according to Lyon.

“The exchange of ideas is really important and we need spaces that are even beyond what you’d expect in terms of classroom lab spaces,” said Collette Creppell, the vice president for Campus Planning and Design. “It’s all about discovery and learning. From top to bottom, it's about getting together, sharing ideas, prototyping and problem solving.”

Substantial completion is anticipated for May 21, as the facility will capitalize off of the current foot traffic that goes through the Keck Center for Science and Engineering to create an entirely new north wing. The hope is to provide Fowler students and faculty the additional research space they need to create and work on projects through “hands-on” discovery and education, Lyon said. Beyond that, the facility will include a kitchen and pantry area, which Lyon joked was a resource for students who simply just don’t want to leave.

Chapman was able to secure equipment such as a laser cutter, belt sander, drill press, a computer numerical control router and laser fabrication technology for students to learn with and test their ideas on. 

“(These are) exactly the sorts of things that (students) will see when they go off into their first jobs,” Lyon said.

On the third floor, instead of having traditional walled-off offices or cubicles, there is a large open office structure designed for the faculty to have a new way to work together. This design was chosen both to encourage collaboration and to ensure that there was ample room on the rest of the wing for student-centric experiences. Anticipated to open before the fall 2021 semester, the building hopes to propel Chapman's engineering program into the future.

“We’re not just building classrooms and teaching labs,” Lyon said. “We’re also building high end research labs for the faculty and the students to create within together.”