(MURFREESBORO)  Middle Tennessee State University Engineering Technology Chair Ken Currie and full-time lecturer Elyssa Ledoux discussed breaking ground this summer on the new, nearly 90,000-square-foot Applied Engineering Building.

The estimated $78.4 million building, which is scheduled to open in fall 2025, will be the new home to the renowned Mechatronics Engineering Program and others, providing students the room, equipment and education to prepare for ever-changing engineering careers.

It will be located next to the Concrete and Construction Management Building on the east side of campus and replace the Voorhies Engineering Technology Building and space now utilized in the Davis Science and Midgett buildings.

“It’s going to be fabulous,” Currie told Andrew Oppmann, “Out of the Blue” host and vice president for Marketing and Communications, discussing the building before revealing news about the acquisition of valuable new and donated equipment valued at more than $2 million.

“We’re going to have an entire ground floor that’s going to have Makerspace and we’re going to have a new robotics and automation lab, and that leads into other big news that we’re going to have probably close to $1.2 million of new equipment that’s been gifted or bought that we’re getting right now, that’s going to go into the new building, so, we’re really excited about this,” Currie added.

Ledoux and Currie shared about the growth of mechatronics engineering, which features robotics and automation classes.

“It’s a really great experience for the students who are taking the robotics and automation classes to be able to get that hands-on, industrial-type experience in a safe and controlled learning environment for everyone,” Ledoux said, adding that capstone projects help create opportunities for students to grow as engineers “with skills that you’re going to take with you into the industry.”