The Dedication of the BYU Engineering Building and our Son Aaron, the Engineer

We were invited today to attend the dedication of the new Engineering Building at BYU.  Our son, Aaron is a 3rd year Mechanical Engineering student, and he spends a good deal of time in that building.  Elder Bednar spoke and gave a beautiful dedicatory prayer.This quote was in the program:

“Redemption from the ills of the world is dependent on our ability to understand the laws of the universe and to live in conformity therewith. . . . Sin, inefficiency, and disease are merely manifestations of ignorance. The overcoming of these is the triumph of education and the vindication of the power of intelligence.” –Franklin S. Harris at his inauguration as BYU president in 1921

As he talked about the old coming down and new buildings being constructed, Elder Bednar said, “I pray we always will remember those who have gone before.”  I remembered classes I had in the old Eyring Science Building, which still stands right next to this building.  I loved learning about physical sciences–physics, astronomy and chemistry.  I typed papers and reports on my new electric typewriter that had a correcting ribbon.  Our highest technology then pales compared to what I saw today.

After the dedication, Aaron took us on a tour of this incredible building.This last year his classes have included Electrical Engineering, Differential Equations, Computing & Numerical Methods, Computer Aided Design, Modeling, Mechatronics, System Dynamic Modeling, Manufacturing Processes and Statistics for Engineers.  Holy Cow, I don’t even know what most of those things are!

Right now he’s working on a semester-long project building a robot. 

Here’s where the robots are tested.  They pick up or shoot balls into specific places.  I’m sure there is a more technical way to describe that!Here are robot parts and pieces from all the students working on this:It was amazing to walk through the floors and see all the labs and work areas for students.  Everyone was busy, as this semester is coming to an end and projects are due.  I’m proud of Aaron and his good mind and heart.  He loves what he’s studying and he’s an excellent student.

The Daily Universe reported, “The building’s construction was possible with the help of $85 million, 100 percent funded by more than 17,000 donors, according to the dedication program.  The building took 27 months to construct and has been operational for three months. It has five floors and is 180,000 square feet total, while the engineering research laboratory has two floors and is 20,000 square feet total.  A feature exclusive to the new building includes Harvey’s Cafe — named in honor of Harvey Fletcher, the first dean of the College of Engineering. The innovation floor also includes prototyping facilities, entrepreneurship infrastructure, student club commons and project labs. Team rooms provide students with a place for collaborative study, and an engineering research laboratory includes access to two wind tunnels, a water tunnel, engine test facilities and combustion reactors.”