A hub for future engineers

Find out how the new Interdisciplinary Engineering Building is already serving students across the College of Engineering.

The IEB offers engineering students new spaces for interaction and new sources of inspiration.

The UW College of Engineering comprises a constellation of buildings. Some serve specific disciplines. And many serve a variety of purposes, from academic services, administrative suites and faculty offices to classrooms, labs and libraries.

Last spring, the College introduced a new building with a single purpose: to support the development of engineering students. All engineering students.

The Interdisciplinary Engineering Building (IEB), ensconced in evergreens, has quickly become the new nexus of student life and learning at the College. Its 76,000 square feet encompass classrooms, teaching labs, project team rooms, meeting spaces for student organizations, a machine shop, a testing studio — plus myriad social and study nooks and spectacular views. It’s also the new headquarters of student advising, academic support and career services.

A place to learn, grow and connect

These features were shaped by hundreds of students who engaged with the building design through surveys and focus groups. “They told us what they needed, and we listened,” says Dan Ratner, the College’s associate dean for academic affairs. “The IEB was created to support the education and development of every student in the College of Engineering.”

It is a space to learn, study, collaborate, innovate. To engage with student organizations and activities and solve problems together. To get advised or get inspired. To figure things out or just hang out with friends and classmates.

That sense of connection is especially critical to first-year engineering students who have yet to declare a major. Students like Melissa Reyes, now a sophomore studying industrial and systems engineering.

“Walking into the IEB as an engineering student, I felt empowered knowing that I’m part of a larger community supported by the College,” says Reyes. “The design is spacious and inviting of collaboration. I appreciate that our physical spaces are reflective of the team-oriented approach of UW Engineering.”

“It’s so exciting to have a space that belongs to us, that teems with energy, new ideas and, most importantly, the opportunity to build community within the College of Engineering.”

Cross-disciplinary collaboration

Sierra Kasl-Godley, a fourth-year environmental engineering student who gives tours of the IEB through the College’s Engineering Ambassadors program, loves the building’s many sustainable elements that earned it LEED certification and the sweeping views to Lake Washington and the Cascades through the vast windows that climb its eastern walls.

But the biggest plus for her may be its convocation of the many engineering disciplines.

“As its name suggests,” she says, “the IEB should help foster interdisciplinary connections across the College of Engineering, encouraging students to work collaboratively, creatively and thoughtfully — as all engineers should — to best serve sustainably and equitably in our professional careers.”

“The IEB is a great place for engineering students to collaborate,” adds Matthew Cristobal, who is in his third year studying materials science and engineering. “Prior to this building, there was no space as large dedicated to engineering students. Many student organizations and engineering courses will benefit from the updated facility and equipment inside.”

Reservable spaces

The IEB presents 22 different spaces that engineering students can reserve, each equipped with media plug-ins, white boards and places to sit — “the three most important needs that students identified for us,” Ratner says.

Study and project spaces fill up fast, especially around exams, says Nathaniel Wagner, a sophomore studying computer engineering who met advisors and attended club events as a first-year student in the IEB last year.

“So, it’s nice to have a new modern space available,” he adds. “Many of the rooms are tailored to engineering student organizations and group studying, making them great places to tackle a club or group project.”

A hub to call home

For Jenny Phan, the IEB became her go-to between classes for homework, studying, advising or snacking (the HUB food court is just across the street). She appreciates the IEB’s blend of social spaces and quiet areas for focused work. “I like being able to choose the kind of environment that works best for me that day,” says Phan, now a sophomore studying materials science and engineering.

“The modern layout creates an environment that encourages collaboration and supports success,” she adds. “Before now, there wasn’t a dedicated space where engineering students could study, collaborate, attend classes and receive academic advising. The IEB has become that centralized space where students can achieve it all.”

No one knows this better than Athena Ortega, a senior studying human centered design and engineering who also staffs the building’s information desk.

“The IEB offers the opportunity for both undeclared and advanced engineering students to feel more connected and supported,” Ortega says. “It’s so exciting to have a space that belongs to us, that teems with energy, new ideas and, most importantly, the opportunity to build community within the College of Engineering.”

The $106 million IEB was funded by the State of Washington and the federal government, the University of Washington and a coalition of individual and corporate donors. Photography by Mark Stone and Dennis Wise / University of Washington