College of Engineering News • Iowa State University

Student Innovation Center displaces student organizations

While the proposed Student Innovation Center promises excellent space and utilities for student organizations once it is completed, its construction plan is currently causing problems for the same organizations. The Student Innovation Center will be built on the plots where the Nuclear Engineering building and Old Sweeny currently stand, two building that are home to organizations like Team PrISUm and the Gaffer’s Guild, a glass blowing student organization.

“There’s history here,” said Ryan Perera, business director for Iowa State’s solar club Team PrISUm and sophomore in aerospace engineering. “It sucks losing the building because we’ve been here for about 25 years.”

While demolition and construction are taking place, the organizations are forced to find other locations to function.  Team PrISUm has been relocated to space in Applied Sciences 4, which they will share with eight different student organizations. The Gaffer’s Guild, however, has yet to find a place for their materials and machinery.

“[We have] a very large furnace that we keep the glass at molten 24/7,” said Robert Rojina, president of the Gaffer’s Guild and senior in mechanical engineering. “That’s going to have to be emptied, cooled, dismantled, moved and then reassembled.”

To read the full story by Andria Homewood with the Iowa State Daily, click here

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