Wartburg College will dedicate its new Innovation Studio on Thursday, Feb. 15, at 11:30 a.m., in room 49 of the Science Center.

The new 1,500-square-foot Innovation Studio was funded in part through a $123,000 grant from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, with an additional $60,000 from individual supporters of the engineering science program. The funds, which were raised as part of the Wartburg’s Transforming Tomorrow comprehensive campaign, enabled the college to strengthen its growing engineering science program and expand its capacity to teach through both theory and practice.

The dedicated laboratory space includes an updated machine shop with computer numerical control machine tools and additional tools and supplies for metal working, woodworking, electronics and robotics.Next door, students can design and create using a new laser cutter and 3-D printer. Another space provides students with a place to collaborate and store in-progress projects.

“This lab space and the new equipment changes a lot of things for the students coming through the program,” said Jake Hamilton, a senior engineering science major who will go on to earn his master’s in industrial engineering from Iowa State University through the schools’ accelerated cooperative program. “My ISU adviser was over the moon when I told her all of the stuff I was able to work with over the summer.”

In addition to the upgraded technology, Daniel Black, the Gary and Donna Hoover Distinguished Professor in Engineering Science, also is excited that the lab provides the students in his growing program with some much-needed space.

“We had one classroom lab space and the machine shop for many years. It was an inefficient setup for our students because they would have to tear everything down every time they were done so the space could be used by the next class,” Black said. Senior design students, who work with community clients to design and create solutions to real-world problems, now have dedicated space to work as well as permanent storage for their projects.

The Innovation Studio is open to only engineering science students this year. During the 2018-19 year, Black expects to have enough assistants trained to offer open lab times for all Wartburg students.