The University of Rhode Island’s College of Engineering is leasing approximately 30,000 square feet of space on a temporary basis from Schneider Electric at their West Kingston manufacturing and office facility. This arrangement provides space for the program while the new College of Engineering Facility is under construction.
The space in the north end of the Schneider Electric facility will be used for classroom, office, administration and “work space” for student project development in the electrical engineering curriculum. LLB worked with both Schneider Electric and the University to develop space plans and design for ELECOMP Capstone labs for the ELECOMP Capstone Design Program for Electrical (ELE) and Computer (COMP) engineers, offices and other support areas. One of the cornerstones of the ELECOMP Capstone Design is to pair senior-level engineering students with industry sponsors to design, build, program and test solutions to their problems. As Schneider Electric is a producer of consumer electronic power products, collaboration and knowledge sharing are seen to be additional benefits for both the College and company.
The project was completed under an aggressive, 24-week, design and construction timeline. The Schneider manufacturing facility remained occupied and fully operational during the renovation.