MARIETTA — The first dirt has been turned on a brand new $60 million research facility at Kennesaw State University’s Marietta campus geared specifically to the science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, subjects.
The 70,000-square-foot, three-story building is expected to open for the fall 2025 semester, said Kathy Schwaig, KSU’s president.
“In this building, science will be on display,” Schwaig said. “We will have new wet labs and dry labs, we will have KSU’s first clean room, and we will have our first cyber range for our students to learn defensive skills to combat against cyber attacks, and we will have much-needed classrooms, both large and small.”
In addition, there will be two instructional laboratories for classes in chemical, biological and physical sciences, workshops to support research and instruction in architecture and engineering.
Jo Lamb, KSU’s assistant vice president of planning, said the total project cost of the new facility is $60 million. According to the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission, a total of $34.3 million have come from state general obligation bonds. Other funds have come from private donors and university funds.
The facility will be located near the main entrance to the Marietta campus on Technology Parkway, a location that Schwaig and Lamb said was deliberate.
“This is a gateway building for this campus,” Schwaig said. “This building will be seen as you enter the campus. We want visitors to know, we want the community to know, we want prospective students to know the investment that has been made in their future and in STEM education.”
Nick Farinacci, a sophomore mechanical engineering major from Peachtree City, is the president of the university’s aerial robotics competition team, and was excited about the construction.
“With this new addition ... KSU will have the unique opportunity to further spread its wings and positively impact academia, research, students and our community,” Farinacci said. “This building will be such an amazing resource for our students and will be a hub of innovation and learning.”
Farinacci said he is looking forward to the new research labs.
“Having done research with unmanned autonomous drones, and having the ability to have equipment that will help us with that research will be an incredible opportunity,” he said.
Among those at the groundbreaking was Sonny Perdue, chancellor of the University System of Georgia.
“Our university is a creation of knowledge,” Perdue said. “The faculty and the researchers designing products and services for the future really makes this thing work. Cobb County’s done very well in economic development, but when we think about what drives that cycle of economic development is talent flow.”
Perdue said that the lessons taught in science, technology, engineering and mathematics classes might apply for jobs that may not even exist yet.
“STEM is a high-demand career field,” Perdue said. “It’s not your jobs of yesterday.”
As of the fall of 2023, Kennesaw State University’s total enrollment was 45,152 students, the third-largest university in the state in terms of enrollment, behind Georgia State and Georgia Tech.
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