The Science 1 Building recently opened last week at the University of Connecticut, located behind North Garage. The building is a part of the new Northwest Science Quad, which began construction in July 2020.
According to the University Planning, Design and Construction website, “The Science 1 Building is one of the largest projects in the Next Generation Connecticut initiative, which was announced in 2013 to significantly expand UConn’s educational and research work in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields.”
Some students who have classes in the building this semester said they are enjoying the new technology and resources available to them. Atharva Shrivastava, a second-semester material sciences and engineering major, said the building will be beneficial to him and other engineering students.
“The science center is a meticulously designed and aesthetically pleasing building,” Shrivastava said. “The wonderful new research facilities seem very promising and can definitely help future generations of engineers reach new heights of innovation.”
The 198,000 square foot building includes a 240 seat active-learning lecture hall which students, like Sophia McManus, a second-semester undecided student, have benefited from.
“The non-traditional lecture hall or ‘active learning classroom’ makes my chemistry class more engaging and collaborative,” McManus said.
Jalen Allen, a fourth-semester journalism and communications double major explains how the active learning lecture hall allows him and other students to interact more during class.
“I think the new science building is very useful because it allows a different approach in learning,” Allen said. “I haven’t seen the whole building yet, but I like how the first lecture room when you walk in provides a table group setting which allows for people to sit close together and interact more, compared to the traditional row setting in my opinion,”
According to the University Planning, Design and Construction, the building will allow for extensive scientific research with access to advanced technology and resources.
“It also includes a ‘clean room,’ which is a space designed to support specialized scientific research in a tightly controlled environment where contamination is minimized to protect the work by filtering airborne particles such as dust or other particulates from within the room,” according to the University Planning, Design and Construction website.
The building contains faculty offices, a new cafe called NanoByte, administrative support offices and places for students to hang out and study.
“It’s a really nice building and I love being able to find a study spot in it,” second-semester pathobiology major Adam Chen said.
