The east side of campus looks a lot different this semester, as construction has begun on the long-planned-for new building that is making way for the fastest growing college at the University of Nevada, Reno: the College of Engineering.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the construction site Oct. 23 to celebrate the William N. Pennington Engineering Building project. Governor Brian Sandoval, Regent Rick Trachok and University President Marc Johnson were on hand and made remarks about the long-awaited project.

“For the past several years, the University and the College of Engineering have embarked upon a number of important initiatives that are in alignment with the state of Nevada’s economic goals,” Johnson said. “We have added majors, minors, degree programs and hired new faculty in areas of state economic development emphasis, including unmanned autonomous systems, cyber security, batteries and energy storage, information systems and more.

“The William N. Pennington Engineering Building will further increase the University’s capacity to produce the graduates and R&D to keep our state’s economy growing. It will help enhance our College of Engineering at a time when growth is needed if we are to keep our state on a path of prosperity – when a skilled professional workforce is needed for the future of Nevada. A strong College of Engineering is at the center of so much of this work.”

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