The University of Wyoming will break ground on the new Engineering Education and Research Building Friday in Laramie. The facility is set to be the largest and most expensive project in the in university’s history, with an estimated cost of around $105 million. Michael Pishko, Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science, said all kinds of students will be welcomed in the building, not just those in engineering.

“It’s all based on collaborations. We want people in there who are going to work together across departments, or even across colleges. It’s all about supporting areas of collaboration,” said Pishko.

The construction is part of a larger effort to improve the University of Wyoming’s standing as a research university, and elevate its science, technology, engineering, and math programs to Tier-1 status. Pishko said the initiative has already had an impact, based on voluntary undergraduate student responses about their plans for after graduation.

“Now with the engineering initiative, renewed focus on supporting the land grant mission, supporting our students, we’re up to about 75 percent of our students have jobs upon graduation, and we want to get even better than that,” said Pishko.

Pishko said in addition to classrooms and labs, the Engineering Education and Research Building will host functions, providing workshop space, and areas for project-based learning. Construction is scheduled to be complete in 2019.