Engineering
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building at SDSU dedicated May 1
The new Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building on the South Dakota State University campus was dedicated May 1, 2009.
The 43,052-gross-square-foot facility is the first new instructional building added to campus since the Northern Plains Biostress Laboratory was completed in 1993. It is the first project completed as part of SDSU’s comprehensive campaign, It Starts with STATE. The building is funded entirely through private gifts.
“This is a significant milestone for the College of Engineering,” said Lewis Brown, dean of the College of Engineering. “We are fortunate to have alumni and supporters with the foresight to recognize the college’s needs and the generosity to make this project possible.”
The building consists of nine classrooms, three study rooms, one study corridor and 33 offices for faculty, researchers and graduate assistants. A state-of-the-art micro and nano-electronics clean room laboratory also will be housed in the building. The top floor of the four-level building will be developed for research and development opportunities involving private-sector industries that want close proximity to faculty researchers and graduate students.
A study funded personally by former Engineering dean Duane Sander and his wife, Phyllis, helped identify the College’s space constraints and provided the basis for addressing the shortcomings.
Sander, a Daktronics co-founder, and several others with strong ties to the College of Engineering provided leadership gifts of at least $500,000 to allow the university to move forward with the project. In addition to Sander, leadership gifts were provided by:
- Ed Cannon, a 1974 electrical engineering graduate who founded Cannon Technologies in Minneapolis;
- Aelred Kurtenbach, co-founder and Board chairman of Daktronics and former electrical engineering instructor at SDSU;
- Jerome J. Lohr, a 1958 civil engineering graduate and founder of J. Lohr Winery and J. Lohr Properties;
- Jim Morgan, president and CEO of Daktronics, who earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1969 and his master’s degree in engineering in 1971, both from SDSU; and
- Daktronics, the Brookings-based world leader in visual communications and entertainment systems.
Another leadership gift was provided by a donor who wishes to remain anonymous.
Fifteen donors committed gifts of $25,000 or more toward the project. They are:
- Banner Associates Inc. of Brookings
- Glynn and Keith Bartels of Mitchell
- Basin Electric Power Cooperative of Bismarck, N.D.
- Brookings Municipal Utilities of Brookings
- East River Electric Cooperative of Madison
- Robert Herman and Elizabeth Elliott Herman of Gladwyne, Penn.
- Heartland Consumer Power District of Madison
- Errol EerNisse of Salt Lake City, Utah
- Dennis and Mary Jo Little of Ft. Myers, Fla.
- Missouri River Energy Systems of Sioux Falls
- Graco Foundation of Minneapolis, Minn.
- Sencore Inc. of Sioux Falls
- Joseph P.Vogel of Prescott, Ariz.
- Workplace Technology Center Inc. of Sioux Falls
- Stanley J. Zimmer of Bellevue, Wa.
“This building would not exist today without the leadership, commitment and generosity shown by these individuals and Daktronics,” Brown said.
Governor Mike Rounds praised the donors’ vision. “It starts with someone who is willing to step up and say ‘I believe.’ Thank you for your contributions to South Dakota State and also to the state of South Dakota.”
Construction on the building began in mid-2007. In mid-March 2009, faculty once housed in Solberg Hall, Harding Hall and the Administration Building moved into the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building.
“The whole dynamic of the department changed instantly by virtue of having colleagues in the same building,” said Dr. Dennis Helder, head of the Electrical Engineering Department. “We now have faculty and graduate students who, by virtue of the change in location, are better able to collaborate and share ideas.”
A student resource room within the building is named in honor of longtime Professor Wayne E. Knabach, an electrical engineering alumnus. Former students and colleagues made gifts in order to name the room for Knabach.
Tim Reed
Development Director
SDSU Collegeof Engineering
tim.reed@sdsufoundation.org
605-691-0452 (mobile)
888-747-7378 (toll-free)