A few weeks back in October, the new building that had been causing North Campus to be lit up a handful of colors every night was finally ready to make its mark on history. It had been thirty long years since a new building has been added to the university, and it seems much worth the wait now that the 80 million dollar Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center was ready to be opened to students and faculty alike. The building is four stories tall, with shiny rectangular glass windows to give it a futuristic feel. This building features classrooms, laboratories, and high-tech clean rooms that will all serve as a research and educational hub for the university. This is the first in a line of many new advancements Chancellor Meehan has planned to add to the Umass Lowell.
Walking to class the morning of the grand opening of the Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center I remember questioning if the ceremony would even take place, since it was planned outside and the rain had not stopped falling for the past two days. Luckily by the time I made my way over after my computing class the rain had held up, and the sun was just peaking through the clouds in the sky. i managed to find a spot standing right behind the bleachers facing the building. The weather was still brisk and contained a slight breeze that brought a chill through your body. The first thing I noticed upon arrival was a huge banner that read "Where Ingenuity meets Industry." This building would be where students cooperate with leading technology industries to help make the future of our society better through scientific research and education.
At the ceremony there were several leaders and political figures from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts including Chancellor Meehan, Governor Deval Patrick, and Congresswoman of the 5th district of Massachusetts Niki Tsongas. Speech after speech people went up and explained the importance of having a building like this on campus. Not only did it create around 150 jobs to build it, but it also helps companies create jobs by working with future employees here on campus. The one speech that stuck out to me the most was Julie Chen's, where she said that students here in bio-medical and chemical engineering will be working with the government to do research and create military vests that will release medicine into the bloodstream once penetrated, healing the soldier's who wear it. Not only did this stick out to me because it sounds extremely interesting, but because of how far this school has come. Who knew that the small public university a few miles from my house would be able to accomplish so much. I'm truly happy that I picked this university over the others I got into.
After the ceremony, Deval Patrick and others cut the ribbon to officially declare the Emerging Technology and Innovation Center open. After they lead the way into the building, there was food, cake, and refreshments on the first floor for everybody to take. So I went straight for the cake. After I ate I got to tour the building with a few of my friends. Walking through the building there were a lot of empty labs for different kinds of sciences and engineering. There were a couple of volunteer upperclassman giving brief introductions to each of the labs, and explaining what kids of research would be taking place in them, along with what they're currently working on. It was pretty exciting seeing and hearing all of these things in the labs, especially since I am going to be in there working one day contributing the this very community. Going to see this grand opening really interested me because I am attending school for bioinformatics, and am going to be working a lot with computers and pharmaceutics. Seeing just what lies ahead for me made me want to work even harder just to achieve my goal.
During the speeches at the ceremony Chancellor Meehan announced that the Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center was not the only expansion Umass Lowell will be adding the university within the next few years. The University of Massachusetts Lowell is growing rapidly and getting more involved with the city of Lowell, and the state of Massachusetts. For example there will be new business and nursing buildings on South Campus, along with University Crossings right at the corner of the bridge on East Campus. The University is continually growing and rising in the college rankings, and is becoming very important helping advance the economy in this region of the United States, just as retired senator Steve Panagiotakos stated in his speech. It is incredible how far this university has come in the past decade, and now I'm part of it. I cant wait to see what's in store for me.
A few weeks back in October, the new building that had been causing North Campus to be lit up a handful of colors every night was finally ready to make its mark on history. It had been thirty long years since a new building has been added to the university, and it seems much worth the wait now that the 80 million dollar Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center was ready to be opened to students and faculty alike. The building is four stories tall, with shiny rectangular glass windows to give it a futuristic feel. This building features classrooms, laboratories, and high-tech clean rooms that will all serve as a research and educational hub for the university. This is the first in a line of many new advancements Chancellor Meehan has planned to add to the Umass Lowell.
Walking to class the morning of the grand opening of the Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center I remember questioning if the ceremony would even take place, since it was planned outside and the rain had not stopped falling for the past two days. Luckily by the time I made my way over after my computing class the rain had held up, and the sun was just peaking through the clouds in the sky. i managed to find a spot standing right behind the bleachers facing the building. The weather was still brisk and contained a slight breeze that brought a chill through your body. The first thing I noticed upon arrival was a huge banner that read "Where Ingenuity meets Industry." This building would be where students cooperate with leading technology industries to help make the future of our society better through scientific research and education. 
At the ceremony there were several leaders and political figures from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts including Chancellor Meehan, Governor Deval Patrick, and Congresswoman of the 5th district of Massachusetts Niki Tsongas. Speech after speech people went up and explained the importance of having a building like this on campus. Not only did it create around 150 jobs to build it, but it also helps companies create jobs by working with future employees here on campus. The one speech that stuck out to me the most was Julie Chen's, where she said that students here in bio-medical and chemical engineering will be working with the government to do research and create military vests that will release medicine into the bloodstream once penetrated, healing the soldier's who wear it. Not only did this stick out to me because it sounds extremely interesting, but because of how far this school has come. Who knew that the small public university a few miles from my house would be able to accomplish so much. I'm truly happy that I picked this university over the others I got into.
After the ceremony, Deval Patrick and others cut the ribbon to officially declare the Emerging Technology and Innovation Center open. After they lead the way into the building, there was food, cake, and refreshments on the first floor for everybody to take. So I went straight for the cake. After I ate I got to tour the building with a few of my friends. Walking through the building there were a lot of empty labs for different kinds of sciences and engineering. There were a couple of volunteer upperclassman giving brief introductions to each of the labs, and explaining what kids of research would be taking place in them, along with what they're currently working on. It was pretty exciting seeing and hearing all of these things in the labs, especially since I am going to be in there working one day contributing the this very community. Going to see this grand opening really interested me because I am attending school for bioinformatics, and am going to be working a lot with computers and pharmaceutics. Seeing just what lies ahead for me made me want to work even harder just to achieve my goal.
During the speeches at the ceremony Chancellor Meehan announced that the Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center was not the only expansion Umass Lowell will be adding the university within the next few years. The University of Massachusetts Lowell is growing rapidly and getting more involved with the city of Lowell, and the state of Massachusetts. For example there will be new business and nursing buildings on South Campus, along with University Crossings right at the corner of the bridge on East Campus. The University is continually growing and rising in the college rankings, and is becoming very important helping advance the economy in this region of the United States, just as retired senator Steve Panagiotakos stated in his speech. It is incredible how far this university has come in the past decade, and now I'm part of it. I cant wait to see what's in store for me.
Jake,
ReplyDeleteGreat job, as well, with this one. Very informative response. 10/10