Kent State’s College of Aeronautics and Engineering Is Growing in Students and Square Footage
Kent State University’s College of Aeronautics and Engineering is the only college in the country that combines the disciplines of aeronautics, engineering and engineering technology in one cohesive college. This enables cross-disciplinary synergy in academic programs and research. Programs such as mechatronics engineering, cybersecurity engineering and unmanned aircraft systems flight operations are unique in Ohio, providing much-needed expertise in these emerging technical disciplines.
Enrollment growth in the college has exploded, with a 53.6% increase in enrolling first-year students and 21% percent enrollment growth college-wide since 2018. To support current and future enrollment growth, the university will construct a 44,000 square-foot expansion to the Aeronautics and Engineering Building. This expansion will include collaborative spaces, state-of-the-art classrooms and research laboratories, and office space.
“Kent State recognizes the importance of virtual education in this rapidly changing landscape of higher education,” says Christina Bloebaum, PhD, dean of the College of Aeronautics and Engineering. “The expansion’s two new classrooms, as well as teaching laboratories, will be equipped to enable virtual delivery in a streaming, synchronous mode, which will also support the college’s efforts to create pathway opportunities with our regional campuses and partner organizations.”
The Timken Foundation of Canton donated $1.5 million to the expansion project. A groundbreaking ceremony was held Oct. 1, 2021, to officially begin this project, which will add 80% more space to the college’s facilities. The college plans to take occupancy of the new addition for the 2023 spring semester.
The new building will feature a two-story atrium that will provide a unique environment for the unmanned aircraft systems flight operations program and will allow researchers to fly indoors year-round, while also creating a dynamic public space to encourage collaboration and community. An almost 3,000-square-foot auditorium will provide a high-tech space to support larger classes, student competitions, and K-12 outreach and other community-oriented events.
“The Timken Foundation is proud to honor Henry and Louise Timken, pioneers in flight, through this gift,” says Ward J. “Jack” Timken, president of the Timken Foundation of Canton (a private, nonprofit, family foundation).
At its quarterly meeting in December 2021, the Kent State University Board of Trustees voted to designate the atrium as the Henry and Louise Timken Atrium, in honor of Henry H. Timken Jr. (son of Henry H. Timken Sr., who founded the Timken Foundation of Canton in 1934) and Louise Timken, who were both aviation enthusiasts. Louise Timken was among the first women to earn a jet pilot’s license and, in 1965, she became the first woman to be type-rated in a Learjet. This association underscores the college’s priority to encourage greater female participation in STEM fields (16.2% female students as of September 2021).
“The successful completion of this project, as part of our master plan, will support Kent State’s ability to produce the highly qualified STEM graduates needed for the state’s and region’s manufacturing and engineering sectors,” says Kent State President Todd Diacon. (Ohio is the No. 1 supplier of manufactured parts to the aerospace industry and the No. 1 supplier to both Boeing and Airbus.) “We’re very grateful that the Timken Foundation of Canton has partnered with us to enable the College of Aeronautics and Engineering to contribute even more to the sustainability of the region’s engineering and manufacturing workforce—a vision both organizations share.”