The ribbon cutting for the new 32,000 square foot Science and Engineering Building at the Marion Campus occurred this morning (August 1).   The Physics Laboratories were named in honor of Prof. Gordon Aubrecht through the generous donations of many friends and supporters, both prior to and following his death this past November 21st.

Prof. Aubrecht taught at the Marion campus for 43 years and was active in faculty governance at both the Marion campus and main campus during that time.  He was dedicated to his students and scholarship and was an energetic defender of academic freedom.

The building, which opens for classes during the upcoming autumn semester, features research labs for faculty in each discipline, faculty/student collaboration spaces, and new biology, chemistry, earth science, engineering, and teaching labs. In addition, a special time walk throughout the building traces earth’s history, and mammoth bones excavated by campus faculty and students in 1976 are also on permanent display.

According to Dean and Director, Gregory S. Rose, the building moves Ohio State Marion forward in a transformative way. “It will support our 4 year biology degree program, more courses in the engineering curriculum, and vastly improve facilities for science courses taken by all students this coming semester and well into the future,” said Rose.
Donors to the $15.5 million project will be honored for their investment in STEM education. The Science and Engineering Building is the 8th free standing building constructed on the Marion campus. Science labs and classrooms were previously located on the third floor of Morrill Hall, which opened in 1968. Campus administration anticipates remodeling and re-purposing Morrill Hall’s third floor in summer 2018.

The Science and Engineering Building is equipped with a host of sustainability features, such as: on-demand lighting, computer controlled greenhouse, white roof for energy efficiency, four electric vehicle charging stations, heat recovery from fume hoods and HVAC, and solar panels that will provide 2-3% of the facilities electricity. All waste materials from construction of were recycled. Ohio State Marion has applied for LEED Silver certification.
The building construction manager was Ruscilli Construction. Ruscilli reported 100% accident free days during construction. Locally sourced brick comes from Glen-Gary Corp., in Iberia, Ohio. The architectural firm responsible design is Stantec Architects.