University of Maine Opens Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center

The University of Maine opened the $78 million Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center in August of 2022 in Orono. Designed by Ellenzweig and WBRC to promote experiential learning, the 115,000-sf facility features hands-on teaching labs for programs in mechanical and biomedical engineering. Housing the campus welcome center and a STEM outreach hub, the three-story structure provides capstone project rooms, a collaboration commons, informal meeting areas, conference rooms, and offices for faculty and staff. The Student Project Design Suite offers 44 workbenches surrounded by shops for 3D printing, electronics, medical devices, wood, metal, composites, and vehicles. Five flexible classrooms that can accommodate a range of class sizes are easily reconfigurable from lecture-based instruction to active learning.

The highly transparent building leverages extensive glazing to put engineering on display while transmitting natural light to interior spaces. Thornton Tomasetti acted as structural engineer and sustainability consultant for the project, which is expected to attain a minimum of LEED Silver certification. Consigli Construction broke ground on the facility in May of 2020.