Rutgers Dedicates New Engineering Educational Facility

Richard Weeks Hall of Engineering is the first Rutgers building named for an engineering alumnus

On Nov 16, 2018

Rutgers University President Robert Barchi, Rutgers–New Brunswick Interim Chancellor Christopher Molloy, and School of Engineering Dean Thomas Farris celebrated the opening of a state-of-the-art facility for student learning and research. Richard Weeks Hall of Engineering anchors the School of Engineering complex on the Busch campus and is the most recent facility built as part of an effort to create a core of new STEM facilities on the university’s Piscataway campus.

Classes and research began this fall at the four-story, 106,000-square-foot modern learning facility that provides expanded teaching, collaboration and  laboratory space to pursue new ideas and sustainable solutions in energy, infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing. The $84 million project was funded by the School of Engineering along with several generous gifts from alumni and industry partners, including $10 million in leadership gifts and pledges to name the building in honor of 1950 alumnus Richard N. Weeks, who chairs Weeks Marine, one of the leading marine construction, dredging and tunneling firms in North America. The School of Engineering recently announced an additional $10 million gift from Weeks to support undergraduate scholarships, the largest-ever scholarship gift to Rutgers. Weeks attended the dedication event along with several family members.

“In Dick Weeks we have a great champion for our School of Engineering and a model of philanthropy for the entire university,” President Barchi said. “Through his vision and generosity, we have a facility that will contribute greatly to the prestige of being a Rutgers-educated engineer and will help us recruit outstanding students and scholars. We are grateful to him and to all those who contributed to the completion of this project.”

“Our School of Engineering applies cutting edge technologies and techniques that benefit society in a number of ways to solve problems and contribute to New Jersey and the world,” Interim Chancellor Molloy said. “Weeks Hall provides us with even greater opportunities to engage our students in research that addresses safer transportation, better infrastructure, responsible water resource management, and reducing the risks of plastics in waterways.

School of Engineering Dean Thomas Farris said, “Weeks Hall of Engineering anchors the School of Engineering on the Busch campus, serving as the gateway to the engineering complex of buildings. We designed this building with engineering students in mind from the collaborative touch down spaces and state-of-the-art laboratories to the smart classrooms and lecture halls. This is their home where they can learn collaboratively with each other and faculty, get inspired and become the innovators for the 21st century.”

Richard Weeks Hall of Engineering is an open and collaborative education center that includes two lecture halls and smart classrooms accommodating more than 700 students. Concept labs located on the first and second floors are used by students to work on team-based, often large scale projects. Students also have access to conference rooms, open study space, and smaller one-on-one meeting rooms. Dedicated laboratories allow for specialized research in robotics, aerospace, urban and coastal water systems, geo-environmental engineering, intelligent transportation, and manufacturing. The building also includes a clean room for scientific research.

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