By: Leo Mazzocco
The Levy Engineering Center will soon impose its presence on the engineering campus. What can future Badgers expect?
As classes start up this fall, the dusty construction zone outside Engineering Hall has beeped and clattered to make its presence known to all engineering students. This gaping chasm invites all who see it to imagine what the future may look like for the engineering campus. Soon, in its place will stand the Phillip A. Levy Engineering Center, a building which aims to set the gold standard for engineering research nationwide.
To investigate exactly how this new building will shape our campus and engineering at large, I sat down with the former Grainger Dean of the College of Engineering, Ian Robertson. Dean Robertson was at the helm of UW-Madison’s engineering college through the multi-year design process for the Phillip A. Levy Engineering Center.
The building caps off Robertson’s career in engineering, serving as dean for 12 years. Starting his education in Scotland, Robertson received his bachelor’s in applied physics from Strathclyde University in 1978 before moving to England to get his Doctorate of Metallurgy from University of Oxford, in 1982. UW-Madison will always be thankful for all Roberston has done to further Wisconsin’s success and reputation.
During Robertson’s tenure, most construction on the engineering campus had been renovating building interiors. For example, the renovation of Wendt Commons from a library to a multipurpose learning space transformed the interior while leaving the facade untouched. The focus was providing students access to the highest quality equipment, learning spaces and resources. The Phillip A. Levy Engineering Center marks the first new building on the engineering campus since the completion of the Engineering Centers Building in 2002.
The task was momentous, with planning starting in 2019. The end result will be nearly 400,000 square feet of learning space. When planning the first new engineering building in decades, Robertson’s vision went further than top-of-the-line equipment. Robertson explains, “The most important part is going to be the people. The building is only going to do great things if we have the right people.”
To achieve this vision, the building was designed to be human-centered and flexible. The vision of the researcher will guide the design of each lab. An open floor plan combined with modular lab equipment will allow each laboratory to adapt to serve that vision. Robertson describes, “The only things that are permanently mounted are the sinks and the fume hoods; everything else will be on wheels.”
The goal is not only to empower researchers to accomplish great things, but to then celebrate those things. Walls of glass will invite people outside to look and wonder what the researchers are pioneering inside. A courtyard outside the autonomous vehicle lab will allow researchers to show off their work.
This idea of putting engineering on display even bleeds out to the structural elements of the building. The exposed trusses, for example, will invite people to think about how engineering principles are not just physically, but spiritually holding up the massive structure. It’s as Robertson emphasizes, “We think engineering is pretty cool, so we want to let people actually see what we do.”
Innovation won’t stop in the labs, but it will extend to the college experience itself. UW-Madison has long had a history of partnering with businesses to secure sponsorships for various labs. You may find yourself having a class in the Plexus, Qualcomm, or Rockwell labs, among others. These partnerships ensure funding for the engineering college while raising companies’ visibility with students.
Continuing this tradition, the Phillip A. Levy Engineering Center will have a top floor dedicated to industry partner space. These coveted spaces will be leased to businesses who will use them to offer immersive, hands-on industry experience – working on campus while taking classes.
As Robertson illustrates, “There’s now an opportunity for you to get that internship during the academic year. They will have laboratory space right here so they can employ you.” This new mutually beneficial model of co-op will allow companies to connect with UW-Madison’s top talent while allowing students to gain experience without putting their education on hold. If successful, this system could become a blueprint for how other prestigious universities across the country approach giving their students real-world experience.
All these improvements come at a cost: the loss of our beloved Máquina fountain. The two stainless steel semicircles have sat in front of Engineering Hall since 1994. Designed by the world famous UW-Madison alumnus, William Severson, the fountain was once used as the engineering college’s logo. However, after years without running water, the fountain was removed in August 2024 to make room for construction, but this may not be the end for the statue.
Robertson reveals, “The plan is to put it somewhere. We kept the metal parts, so if the campus can find an appropriate location it might make a comeback, as a sculpture, not as an entire fountain.”
As the loss of Máquina highlights, our engineering campus is a living entity and constantly changing. This change won’t stop with the completion of the Phillip A. Levy Engineering Center, and visioning for the next steps has already started. Robertson was able to elaborate on these long-range plans, unfurled as visions for each of the different buildings on the campus.
“We think engineering is pretty cool, so we want to let people actually see what we do.”
– Ian Robertson, Former Grainger Dean of the College of Engineering
The Engineering Research Building will likely come down next to make room for some green space on the engineering campus. The parking garage may eventually go away, allowing space for a new engineering building. Even Engineering Hall is slated for replacement, likely by two buildings with a garden in between. The addition of a bike path to Engineering Drive is also planned, ultimately transforming the road into a pedestrian walkway.
With a new dean in place, Robertson notes that these plans could change. But he emphasizes, “We have to get ready for growth in the engineering campus, growth for a number of undergraduates, and expansion of our research enterprise.”
The future is always unpredictable, but as the saying goes: Failing to plan is planning to fail. It’s a good thing we have such a robust roadmap for our future – one that will hopefully secure the success of Badgers for years to come.