FORT WAYNE, Ind. (ADAMS) – Indiana Tech has received a $1.7 million grant from the Don Wood Foundation in support of its project to expand and renovate the Zollner Engineering Center on the university’s main campus in Fort Wayne.
The grant from the foundation will help fund the construction of and purchase of state-of-the-art lab equipment for the Zollner Engineering Center’s new PLC, Mechatronics and Robotics, and Power and Controls laboratories.
The new Robotics lab is part of the addition to the Zollner Engineering Center currently under construction and will open for use by Indiana Tech students for the fall semester of 2022 when the new addition is complete. The existing sections of the Zollner Engineering Center will then undergo extensive renovations, with the full project to be completed in the fall of 2023. The new PLC and Power and Controls labs will be located in the renovated portion of the facility.
Indiana Tech released the following:
Indiana Tech President Karl W. Einolf, Ph.D., commented, “On behalf of our students, faculty, and staff, I’m extremely grateful for the support of the Don Wood Foundation. This tremendous grant will enable us to fully realize our vision for turning the Zollner Engineering Center into one of the finest engineering and computer sciences facilities in the country. Indiana Tech’s current and future students will benefit from the extraordinary learning opportunities this grant will enable. Our regional economy wins, too. With the support of the foundation, we’ll be educating future leaders in STEM fields of every description for years to come.”
Don Wood Foundation Executive Director, Laura M. Macknick, concurred with Dr. Einolf about the impact of this grant. “The Don Wood Foundation is pleased to partner with Indiana Tech, which has a reputation for providing top-notch educational opportunities for its engineering and technical students in Northeast Indiana. This grant will provide the university with cutting-edge equipment which will augment their scholars’ pursuits in the classroom.”
In recognition of the Wood Foundation’s generosity, Indiana Tech will name the area of the building receiving foundation support The Don Wood Foundation Science, Technology and Engineering Wing.
With a vision to transform the region’s industrial workforce, The Don Wood Foundation is an extraordinary gift to the educational community in our area, with a goal of aligning opportunities between students, community, and industry.
Don Wood created the foundation to support training and education in the areas of:
• Industrial Technology
• Machine Tool Technology
• Engineering Technology
• Sales
• Entrepreneurship
• Leadership
The Zollner project is a major expansion and renovation of Indiana Tech’s engineering and compute sciences center on its main campus in Fort Wayne.
The university is investing $21.5 million in the project, which will nearly double the current size of the facility and result in an all-new home for Indiana Tech’s growing programs in engineering, computer sciences, cybersecurity, life sciences, technology and more.
Construction began in May 2021, and the first phase of the project, a 30,000 square foot addition to the east side of the current facility, will be complete in August 2022.
The next phases of the project will begin in late May 2022 and include a complete renovation of the existing Zollner Center space, resulting in an all-new, 70,000 square foot, three-floor facility that will be complete in the fall of 2023. For more information about the project, Indiana Tech and its Talwar College of Engineering and Computer Sciences, click here.
