The ivory towers of academia,those old barriers that kept re-searchers at universities isolatedfrom each other, are tumbling downat Oregon State University.

In their place, a tower of a new sort– a 74-foot-high, glass-paned atriumhighlighting the university’s new Kel-ley Engineering Center in Corvallis.

Built to flood the interior of the en-gineering center with a healthy doseof light, the atrium also was designedto accomplish another goal: to bring

faculty and students and visitors faceto face in a setting that encouragesmixing, mingling and a trading ideas.

Breaking down barriers of isolationand fostering communication has be-come the norm rather than the excep-tion in university research these days.It’s especially crucial in the competitivefields of electrical engineering andcomputer science, the roots of the pro-grams that will be housed in the centerthis coming fall, says Ron Adams, deanof OSU’s College of Engineering.

OSU’s Kelley Engineering Center nears completion

AA TToowweerr ooff EEnnggiinneeeerriinngg PPoowweerr

Oregon State University KelleyEngineering Center

PPRROOJJEECCTT CCOOSSTT: $45 million

PPRROOJJEECCTT SSIIZZEE: 146,000 square feet

PPRROOJJEECCTT FFIINNAANNCCIINNGG: $20 million private

donation and $20 million matching funds

from OSU, with the university still seeking a

remaining $5 million in private contributions

OOWWNNEERR: Oregon State University

AARRCCHHIITTEECCTT: Yost Grube Hall Architecture

EENNGGIINNEEEERRSS: CH2M Hill, Glumac Inc., Inter-

face Engineering, KPFF Consulting Engineers

CCOONNTTRRAACCTTOORR: Skanska USA Building Inc.

OOTTHHEERR AASSSSOOCCIIAATTEESS: C3MG, DHC Consul-

tants, Green Building Services, Smithgroup

Inc., Martin Kelley, city of Corvallis Develop-

ment Services, Clair Co.

SSUUBBCCOONNTTRRAACCTTOORRSS//SSUUPPPPLLIIEERRSS: ABC Sur-

veying, Advanced Cast Stone, Architectural

Wall Solutions Inc., Lawrence Behr Associ-

ates Inc., Benson, Cascade Tower & Rigging

Inc., Ceitronics, Cherry City Electric, Craw-

ford Roll-Lite Door, W.H. Cress, Davidson’s

Masonry, Environmental Controls, Emery &

Sons Construction, Faustrollean, T. Gerding

Construction Co., Harder Mechanical, Interi-

or Installation Services, Isec Inc., J.B. Good

Inc., Lacy Glass Inc., Master Fire Control,

Metal Fabrication Co. Inc., Morrow Equip-

ment Co. LLC, NW Tower Crane, The Radius

Bike Rack, Refa Erection Inc., Sams & Son

Weatherstripping, Fred Shearer & Sons,

Streimer Sheet Metal Works, Temp Control

Mechanical, Teufel Nursery Inc., Thomas

Kay Textiles, ThyssenKrupp Elevator,

Tombari, Umpqua Roofing, Western Parti-

tions Inc., Western Tile & Marble,

Williamsen & Bleid Inc.

OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY KELLEY ENGINEERING CENTER // STORY BY STEPHANIE BASALYGA

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Reprinted from the March 2005 COMMERCE magazine. To subscribe, e-mail subscriptions@djc-or.com. ©Daily Journal of Commerce. All rights reserved.COMMERCE

Adams calls the Kelley project the“centerpiece” of an ongoing push byOSU to place its engineering programamong the top 25 in the country.

“When we set out on this journeyfor the top 25, we chose to focus ontwo things,” Adams says. “One, wewant every one of our graduates to bework ready. On the first day after theygraduate from here, they know howto do engineering in … whatever con-text they’re in.

“Second … we want to be seen asamong the best at collaboration. Thewhole process of innovation is drivenby … the ability to collaborate.”

Collaboration is more than just anacademia buzzword these days. It’s aconcrete term that pencils out to dollarsand cents – a lot of dollars and cents.

The majority of the funding that

pays for the type of engineering re-search done at OSU, for example,comes from government agencies,which are looking for solutions tocomplex problems.

“It’s no longer possible for a single

professor and a single graduate stu-dent to solve those (types) of prob-lems,” Adams says.

And that’s where the atrium at theKelley Engineering Center will comeinto play.

“It’s a mechanism to create oppor-tunities for dialogue,” says Yost GrubeHall Architecture’s Steven Mortensen,who served as project architect forthe center.

From a café and lounge seatingareas to six sky bridges and walkwaysconnecting with a staircase withlandings on several levels, the atriumprovides “little spaces for casual con-versations, places to meet and chatabout things,” Mortensen says.

The idea of providing places forsmall impromptu or chance meetingbetween graduate students and pro-

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““HHee ssaaiidd,, ‘‘II tthhiinnkk iitt sshhoouulldd bbee tthhee bbuuiillddiinngg,,’’ ”” rreeccaallllssRRoonn AAddaammss,, ddeeaann ooff OOSSUU’’ss eennggiinneeeerriinngg ccoolllleeggee..

KKeelllleeyy wwaassnn’’tt jjuusstt wwiilllliinngg ttoo pprroovviiddee hhiiss ooppiinniioonn.. HHeeaallssoo ddoonnaatteedd $$2200 mmiilllliioonn ttoo hheellpp OOSSUU bbeeggiinn bbuuiillddiinnggwwhhaatt wwoouulldd eevveennttuuaallllyy ttuurrnn iinnttoo tthhee $$4455 mmiilllliioonn KKeell-lleeyy EEnnggiinneeeerriinngg CCeenntteerr iinn CCoorrvvaalllliiss..

IItt wwaass tthhaatt iinniittiiaall ddoonnaattiioonn tthhaatt AAddaammss bbeelliieevveesspprroovviiddeedd tthhee ssppaarrkk ttoo lliigghhtt tthhee ffiirree bbeehhiinndd wwhhaatt hhaassnnooww bbeeccoommee aa ggrraanndd-ssccaallee ppllaann ttoo bboooosstt OOSSUU’’sseennggiinneeeerriinngg pprrooggrraamm..

““TThhee ppoossiittiioonn II wwaass iinn wwaass ttrryyiinngg ttoo bbaassiiccaallllyy aalliiggnnaa lloott ooff ppeeooppllee wwiitthh tthhiiss iiddeeaa,, bbootthh iinnssiiddee tthhee ((uunnii-vveerrssiittyy)) aass wweellll aass oouuttssiiddee,,”” AAddaammss ssaayyss.. KKeelllleeyy’’ssddoonnaattiioonn wwaass ““pprroobbaabbllyy oonnee ooff tthhee bbiiggggeesstt vvaalliiddaatt-iinngg sstteeppss.. AA lloott ooff tthhiinnggss rreeaallllyy bbrrookkee lloooossee aass aa rree-ssuulltt ooff hhiiss ggiifftt..””

Martin Kelley Powers OSU Engineering Push

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Favorite Feature“The open stair is probablymy favorite element. It’s sus-pended from steel rods fromthe roof. The experience ofwalking down that stair andbeing on those landings, itreally makes you feel likeyou’re floating in space.”

– STEVE MORTENSEN, project architect,

Yost Grube Hall Architects

Reprinted from the March 2005 COMMERCE magazine. To subscribe, e-mail subscriptions@djc-or.com. ©Daily Journal of Commerce. All rights reserved.COMMERCE

fessors extends even to hallway areas,spaces that Mortensen describes as“little informal gathering nodes wherestudents can bump into professors.”

But fostering ideas among profes-sors and students is just one aspect ofthe collaboration expected to springfrom the design of the engineeringcenter.

With less and less funding comingfrom the state, public universities inOregon are turning increasingly tohelp from the private business sector– opening their doors and inviting thecompanies in to see research as it’sbeing done.

That’s why the atrium’s north andsouth sides feature stretches of glassthat will allow visitors to view projectsgoing on in graduate student workareas.

Another perk for the collaborativeprocess: laboratory spaces locatedfurther to the south behind the grad-uate student areas that allow for flex-ibility in configuration to meet thechanging needs of research projects.

The flexible design is a new ap-proach for OSU, a break with a tradi-tion where a researcher did all of hisor her work in the same laboratoryenvironment during an entire careerat the university. Instead, the new labswill host a project for its entire dura-tion. Once that project is completed, anew one – along with a new project

team – will move into the space.OSU has already experienced the

windfall that can be harvested fromcollaboration, innovations that canhelp the university’s engineering pro-gram advance its standing amongprograms from other universitiesaround the country.

As an example, Adams points toOSU’s tsunami research lab, which isaccessible through the Internet. Re-searchers anywhere in the world cantap into the lab, and plan experi-ments and participate in them with-out ever stepping foot on OSU’sCorvallis campus.

“What a lot of people don’t know is,that is the result of collaboration be-tween computer science and civil en-gineering (programs at OSU),”Adams said.

Another OSU program, Tekbots, inwhich engineering students at theuniversity build robots during theirfreshman year and then add new de-tails based on the lessons they learnuntil they graduate, has caught theeye of other schools around thecounty. Texas A&M, recognized asone of the top engineering schools inthe United States, has purchased theprogram to use for its students,Adams said.

OSU has more plans to updatecampus buildings to help push its en-gineering program forward. Within

the next four years, Graff and Apper-son halls will be remodeled to houseprograms in the engineering college.Further down the road, a new struc-ture will be built for the college’schemical, environmental and bio en-gineering programs.

But for now, Adams is satisfied tostep back for a moment and watchthe last few finishing touches on theKelley Engineering Center, which isscheduled for completion in July.

“We believe the grand opening ofthis building will take us to the nextlevel,” Adams says.

Project architect Mortensen also iscounting down the days until the pro-ject is done. Once students and facul-ty move into the center in the fall,there’s a good chance he and the restof the design team from Yost GrubeHall, including firm principal andproject designer Nels Hall, will proba-bly visit the center to query profes-sors and students on how they likethe building.

It’s something the firm does for al-most every project it works on.

“We ask people spur of the momenthow they like it and we always get afavorable reaction,” Mortensen says.“Some of the best satisfaction isknowing that for the people using it,it’s so natural for them to use thespace, they don’t think about ittwice.”

Rendering courtesy of Yost Grube Hall Architecture

Reprinted from the March 2005 COMMERCE magazine. To subscribe, e-mail subscriptions@djc-or.com. ©Daily Journal of Commerce. All rights reserved.COMMERCE