Remarks at Groundbreaking for Engineering Laboratory II

May 17, 2002

I am honored today to be in your company, and to share in your excitement for this marvelous new facility, Engineering Laboratory II for the use of Chemical Engineering and Civil and Environmental Engineering.

This new facility will greatly expand the space available for research in chemical engineering and civil and environmental engineering, departments ranked among the best of their kind in the nation. The research to be undertaken in this building will stand at the forefront of applied science, bringing together cross-disciplinary expertise from across the campus, and setting the pace in emerging fields such as bioengineering and nano-technology. Innovative research of this caliber is vital to our mission as a land-grant university: as I have emphasized throughout the year, I believe that the creation of knowledge through research is a public trust, and that its application is a societal obligation.

The work done by faculty and students in these departments offers many examples of how that obligation is fulfilled. In environmental and geotechnical engineering—two areas which will be housed in the new laboratory--research is underway on groundwater quality, on drinking water treatment, on airport deicing fluid, and in the use of recycled plastic landscaping timbers. This research can have great practical value for improving the quality of our environment as well as our economic infrastructure.

Beyond research projects, this new building/laboratory will house people. And it is people that dream of how research can create a more livable world. I think here of Gretchen McAuliffe, a senior in Chemical Engineering and recent recipient of a Campus Leadership award. In the lab, Gretchen studies the toxicity of the anticancer agent Taxol in mammalian cell cultures; elsewhere, Gretchen serves as a squad leader in the Army Reserves, as an EMT trainer, and as a mentor for high school seniors. One of her own mentors, Dr. Susan Roberts of Chemical Engineering, was honored last year for her contribution to the professional development of women in engineering.

It is people like Susan Roberts and Gretchen McAuliffe who remind us that beautiful new buildings are a catalyst for realizing dreams, and enabling others to dream beyond old boundaries.

After a challenging year on this campus, it is good for us to gather in celebration of this building and all it represents. This ground would never have been broken, were it not for the dedication and support of many people. Although I cannot thank you all today, I would like to make a special note of appreciation to the industrial advisory groups for their vision and leadership in supporting the departments and supporting the development of Engineering Laboratory II. I would also like to thank Joseph Goldstein, Dean of the College of Engineering, for all of his work on this project, and to the faculty of the college for their dedication to fulfilling our public trust as a land-grant university.

It is an exciting day, a day brimming with the promise of discovery and the anticipation of new dreams. Thank you for sharing it with me.