New Facilities

Our faculty emphasize scholarship, research, and inspirational teaching. To support their efforts and enhance their lifestyles, new facilities were recently dedicated.

The newest addition to campus is the Little Huskies Child Development Center, a 4,400-square-foot facility. The center's eight teachers all have college degrees in early childhood development or a related field. The center can accommodate eight infants, sixteen toddlers ages 1–3, and twenty-four preschool students ages 3-5.

The John and Ruanne Opie Library, funded by alumnus John Opie and his wife Ruanne, is a striking addition to the J. R. Van Pelt Library, which was completely renovated as part of the project. The high-tech facility provides twenty-two small-group study rooms, which support Michigan Tech’s emphasis on team learning. It is equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, including an electronic information center that provides the latest on library and campus activities, as well as a steady stream of news and weather.

Kanwal and Ann Rekhi Hall, funded by alumnus Kanwal Rekhi and his wife Ann, features distinctive copper architecture and centralized space for computer science facilities. It provides multimedia classrooms for high-tech instruction, distance learning, and teleconferencing. Because of ever-changing technology, Rekhi Hall has adaptable labs and research spaces to accommodate future innovations in computing.

The Advanced Technology Development Complex (ATDC) provides ideal space for research at Michigan Tech to be tested, developed into prototypes, and commercialized. A major part of the ATDC is the Ford Student Design Center, named to recognize the building’s lead donor, the Ford Motor Company Fund. With fully-equipped industrial workspace right next to clean space for computer work and team meetings, the Ford Student Design Center allows students to bring what they learn in the classroom to the production floor—right on campus.

These new facilities enhance Michigan Tech’s signature discovery-based learning programs. The Opie Library conference rooms, the multimedia capabilities in Rekhi Hall, and the industrial workspace of the ATDC combine to create a ripe climate for innovation at Michigan Tech, as evidenced by opportunities like the Enterprise Program.

The Campus

Michigan Tech’s main campus encompasses some 900 acres, split between the lower campus mall situated on Portage Lake, with most of the lecture halls, labs, library, student union, and residence halls, and the upper campus, which includes the forestry complex, apartments, athletic complex and recreational trails. In addition, the University owns the 4,000-acre Ford Forestry Center in Alberta, some forty miles from campus.

The Memorial Union Building features student organization offices, food commons with cafeteria, ballrooms, bowling alley, billiards room, guest accommodations, and more. The Raymond L. Smith ME-EM Building houses the mechanical engineering department, the largest on campus and features several computer labs, design and innovation centers, and high-tech conference rooms. The dynamic Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts has an 1,100-seat, acoustically balanced performance hall, and is host to national touring companies, lecturers, orchestras, and more.

The Seaman Mineralogical Museum, designated the Mineralogical Museum of Michigan is housed in the seven-story Electrical Energy Resource Center. The Van Pelt and Opie Library is also home to the Michigan Tech Historical Collections and Copper Country Archives. The Dow Environmental Sciences and Engineering Building features a three-story atrium for studying that overlooks Portage Lake. The three residence halls are Wadsworth, McNair, and Douglas Houghton, and all have been renovated in recent years.

The Noblet Forestry Building was recently renovated to include Hesterberg Hall, with its beautiful atrium, and Horner Hall with faculty and graduate student offices and laboratories. Recreational opportunities abound for faculty, staff, and students in the Student Development Complex. The SDC is also home to the Huskies sports teams, including men’s ice hockey, women’s volleyball, and men’s and women’s basketball, track and field, Nordic skiing, and cross-country running. The football team plays at cozy Sherman Field, and the Gates Tennis Center is home to the men’s and women’s tennis teams and is also open for recreational play.

The University also owns and operates its own eighteen-hole golf course and downhill and cross-country ski trails. The ski trails have hosted the US Junior Olympics, and will be hosting the 2007 and 2008 US Cross Country Skiing Championships.