CEI. view . fall 2012
9
Millions of dollars, thousands of planning hours, hundreds
of construction jobs created and five years after it first
began,
the Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation
(CEI) stands as a bold statement and dramatic leap forward for
Engineering at the University of Windsor.
The CEI will empower the mind, encouraging new ideas and
developing the technology needed to translate those ideas into
reality, says UWindsor president, Dr. Alan Wildeman.
“The CEI will be so much more than just a building. The CEI is
the bedrock upon which the University of Windsor will build its next
50 years of education, research and community partnership.”
As of press time, all the final pieces of Phase II of the
$112-million, 300,000-square foot structure were on pace to come
together for its first class of students to walk through the doors on
September 17. Phase I, which included CEI’s research labs, was
completed in summer 2011.
The project’s completion comes five years after the University’s
board of governors approved construction of a new engineering
facility to solve the capacity problems of Essex Hall, its former
home. Essex was designed for 350 students. Approximately 1,400
are currently enrolled. Its research and educational labs were small
and under-equipped and there was insufficient space for meeting
rooms or study areas.
Design work for the $112-million project initially began in 2006
and construction started in 2009.
The CEI represents the largest capital investment in the
University’s history. The project is being supported by $40 million
in federal government funding with an equal amount from the
Ontario government.
Other significant donations include $5.3 million recently
raised at a roast to honour Ed Lumley, the University’s chancellor
for whom the building is named. The largest contribution
announced during the event was a $2.5-million gift from BMO
Financial Group to fund the BMO Collaborative Learning Forum
within the new facility.
The idea of innovation inspired Kevin Stelzer, principal, B+H
Architects. “What was important about this project right from the
outset was that it be generated by a series of ideas. One of the most
important ideas was innovation.”
KEY CEI FEATURES INCLUDE:
• The 21,000-sq-ft. Industrial Courtyard will welcome occupants
from a variety of industry and engineering sources to conduct
business and research in co-operation with faculty and students
• iDesign Studio and iFactory is the first in the Western
Hemisphere to offer trial manufacturing assemblies of small
consumer goods
• Centre for Structures Safety and Failures Analysis is the most
comprehensive structures testing facility in Canada
• BMO Collaborative Learning Forum delivers a groundbreaking
educational format mixing lecture, lab and group learning as
never before
• State-of-the-art teaching labs offer the hands-on application
of theory
• “Brain Space” for student study, reflection and interaction
“The CEI will be so much more than
just a building. The CEI is the
bedrock upon which the University
of Windsor will build its next 50
years of education, research and
community partnership.”
Dr. Alan Wildeman
From vision to reality
THE CEI OPENS ITS DOORS
BY ANGELA ALTASS and JENNIFER AMMOSCATO
