Inside the new engineering research and education labs: what’s next as construction wraps up

Lauren Savitsky
Fri, 27 Feb 2026 04:25:23 +0000
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The college of engineering’s new research and education laboratories have reached the final stages of construction, with project manager Shaun Allen saying the facility is 96% complete before its estimated opening in May. Credit: Lauren Savitsky | Lantern Reporter

The college of engineering’s new research and education laboratory building is entering the final stretch of construction as anticipation for the facility’s collaborative environment builds among the department leadership and student body.?

The new engineering research and education facility is set to open in May, with construction now 96% complete and on track, Shaun Allen, the project manager, said.?

The building will include research and teaching labs, offices, classrooms and collaborative spaces aimed at bringing students and faculty together — a shift that reflects the college’s excitement for a more connected engineering community, Michael Hagenberger, the associate dean for facilities and capital planning, said.

“I’m hoping we’re going to get more cross-disciplinary student groups,” Hagenberger said. “Rather than everyone then going into their departments and going to their departmental space, there’ll be this space, this multi-disciplinary engineering space, where they can all go.”

The project, previously known as the Biomedical and Materials Engineering Complex Phase Two, involved the demolition of Watts Hall and the renovation of MacQuigg Hall. The new engineering research and education laboratory facility is set to open in May, according to the facility’s design and construction website.

Breaking ground in August 2023, the project is now in its final stages, with architectural finishes underway and exterior metal paneling and landscaping still to be completed before the building opens in May, Allen said in an email.?

“We will start planning the move in late-march,” Hagenberger said. “By April 15 we will move our first people into the building.”

In addition to? interior and exterior finishes, the building awaits its furniture and final inspections. This includes life safety, which is essential for obtaining the certificate of occupancy, Allen said.

Hagenberger said the department received excited feedback from students and faculty, and is interested to see how the incoming first-year class will use the space to their advantage this Fall.?

Throughout the planning process, Hagenberger said the main focus was to create a space the students never wanted to leave, and that began with including them in the design process.?

“Students were involved during the entire design of that building,” Hagenberger said. “Even in our master planning, we ran focus groups with graduate students and with undergraduate students.”

Hagenberger said the types of group workspaces in the final plan were from student feedback. Students provided input on what kinds of furniture would be best to cultivate a collaborative work environment.?

The multi-purpose space, described by Hagenberger as the heart of engineering, will be the home to every first-year engineering student entering onto Ohio State’s campus next fall. He said he hopes the space becomes a welcoming and comfortable place for all engineering students to collaborate with faculty and students from other areas within the college.?

Hagenberger said the department coined the term “collabratories” to describe the master plan as a series of changes to the campus structure to foster innovation and connection within the engineering community.

“They are these college laboratories that are not departmental but might solve big problems,” Hagenberger said. “Where faculty from all disciplines can come together and solve a problem.”

Hagenberger said the facility represents a key step in the department’s master plan to make the college of engineering more student-centered by improving collaboration between students and faculty beyond what existing facilities allow.

“We’ve continued to focus our space on more and more collaborative, accidental intersections,” Hagenberger said.