Construction is officially underway at the new Van Leer Interdisciplinary Design Commons. The ceremonial groundbreaking was held at the site of the current Blake R. Van Leer building named after Georgia Tech’s fifth president and the fist engineer to head the college. Dean of the College of Engineering, Dr. Gary S. May and Dr. G.P. “Bud” Peterson, president of Georgia Institute of Technology kicked off the event as they addressed the students and community on the impacts of building this makerspace project.

The construction project will transform the two-story rotunda that serves as an auditorium into a modern, shared space designed for education, collaboration and research. The focus of the new 3-story building will be to serve the students at the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Georgia Tech Makers and Innovators. The 15,000-square-foot makerspace will contain a host of electronic equipment and fabrication tools to promote an environment of innovation and hands on learning including electronic prototyping, embedded systems and fabrication equipment.

“This is such an exciting project to be part of and to work with Georgia Tech on their campus again,” said Brian Steed, operation manager for Gilbane Building Company. “These advanced learning spaces will be an inspiration to so many students as they develop their careers in engineering and computer science, and it will be exciting to see what they invent that makes it into real-world use.”

Gilbane Building Company, a leader in college and university construction services, is serving as the construction manager for Georgia Institute of Technology on this project. The project which is expected to complete in early 2018 is funded by private donors.