Dean of Engineering Mun Y. Choi announced that a new Engineering building will be constructed on the Storrs campus by 2013. Steady growth in undergraduate enrollments, the need for expanded high-tech research space, and success in securing a number of high profile national research centers have heightened pressures on the School to expand.

Preliminary designs for the building, to contain a minimum of 40,000 sq. ft. of usable space, will begin in 2009. The estimated $42 million building will be constructed with funds provided by the State’s $2.3 billion investment in Connecticut’s flagship university, begun in 1995 under the name “UConn 2000” and expanded in a second phase as “21st Century UConn.”

The new building will house state-of-the-art research and teaching laboratories for biomedical engineering, nanotechnology and sustainable engineering.

“Engineering is vital to the economic health and vitality of the State, and we are gratified that State leaders and the University recognize our need to continue to grow,” said Dean Choi. “This new facility will leverage our educational and research initiatives, and fortify our ability to attract new resources and opportunities.”