The College of Aeronautics and Engineering hosted a grand opening of their building expansion on Friday. 

The event was hosted in the new space, and featured remarks from Todd Diacon, the university’s president, and Christina Bloebaum, dean of the College of Aeronautics and Engineering. 

The college is the only one in the country to combine aeronautics, engineering and engineering technology into one college, allowing opportunities for students to be involved in cross-disciplinary programs. 

The expansion brings in new spaces such as the Bot Bunker, a laboratory of automation with humanoid robots and AI systems, as well as the Runway, which houses three laboratories for  air traffic control simulated training.

During her speech, Bloebaum said the expansion is a success that will tremendously benefit the community with opportunities for cutting-edge research that will propel the college forward on its goal of being a leading institution. 

“It’s over 40,000 square feet of space designed to ensure the best training and educational environment for both our undergraduate students as well as our graduate students in both aeronautics and engineering,” she said. 

After the speeches concluded, a ribbon-cutting ceremony took place, where a robotic dog brought out Diacon’s scissors. 

Reilly Ferrie, a senior aeronautics major, said freshman enrollment has increased by 53.6 percent from 2018, which is one of the reasons there was a need for the expansion. 

“We have much bigger classrooms now, so we don’t have to take classes in other buildings for lectures, which makes it a much easier process for us,” Ferrie said. 

Katie Horn, a junior aeronautics major, shared similar thoughts on the expansion and expressed gratitude towards the Temkin Foundation of Canton, who made contributions towards the expansion. 

“Now we actually have room for all of our classes, and a lot more room for researching and meetings, so it’s really nice to have a whole new expansion,” Horn said. “I’m super thankful to the Temkin family for doing this for us. It’s incredible.”

Kayla Gleason is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].

Lex Radde is a TV2 reporter. Contact her at [email protected]