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Building the Future of Discovery and Outreach - New Leach Science Center addition takes shape
Did You Know? The namesake for the Leach Science Center is Edmund C. Leach, who served as the first president and board chair of the Auburn Alumni Association until 1963.
New research labs. Student success and collaborative study spaces. And even an astronomy terrace with as many as 18 telescopes.
All such advancements are in the works as Auburn University’s College of Sciences and Mathematics (COSAM) looks to the future with the construction of the Leach Science Center addition.
“Leach Science Center has long been the site of the physics department’s most sophisticated and state-of-the art research laboratories,” said Dan King, associate vice president for Auburn’s facilities management department. “The new addition will align all aspects of the physics department’s mission by moving their instructional laboratories and classrooms from a set of 1960s vintage facilities into a modern classroom and lab building. It will also, for the first time in many years, collocate the physics faculty with their research laboratories.”
The addition, which is slated for completion by spring semester of 2019, is part of COSAM’s effort to remain at the forefront of academic instruction, research, and outreach. The project will department advance its cutting-edge research.
Having all the faculty, staff, and graduate students in the department in one location will make this a fantastic home for physics.”
The $24 million, 62,500-square-foot addition will include space for physics department faculty, office space for graduate teaching assistants, teaching laboratories, general and astronomy-specific classrooms, and an astronomy terrace where students will be able to control telescopes from the classroom.
Each telescope will be linked to a monitor to allow students to access data and spectroscopic observations.
Previously, students had to set up and recalibrate telescopes with each use due to a constant relocation of the telescopes. The telescopes on the new astronomy terrace will be permanently mounted on concrete piers and will be shielded from the elements with protective covers when they are not in use. Ultimately, the Leach Science Center addition will allow COSAM to accommodate as many as 600 students annually in the college’s astronomy course—an increase of nearly 250 percent—and will provide benefits for the many year-round programs sponsored by COSAM’s Office of Outreach, which aims to cultivate learning opportunities in the fields of science and mathematics among the state’s K-12 students and educators.
The addition also will provide dedicated student space, including a resource room that will be used for small-group study and tutoring led by graduate students.
Meanwhile, new lab space dedicated exclusively for physics majors will allow students to set up long-term projects and keep equipment in place between labs.
Other highlights of the addition include:
- A lounge specifically for the Society of Physics Students, designed to foster camaraderie, support, and the generation of new ideas
- Multiple group study areas, featuring white boards and glass boards to stimulate collaborative work
- Nine new labs to be used by students taking core physics requirements, including those majoring in a pre-health curriculum, biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, and building science. The new labs will each be approximately 900 square feet and offer an additional 200 square feet of learning space compared to previously used labs
- Shell space available in the addition’s basement to be built out in the future for research lab space
An eagle’s eye view:
Watch the construction of the Leach Science Center addition live by viewing our webcam that’s focused on the construction site. Visit aub.ie/leachaddition and click on the Leach Science Center addition link for a real-time view of our progress, as well as the most up-to-date information on the project.
Last Updated: 10/12/2018