Alumni

‘Our Valpo’ Campaign Seeks Addition to Gellersen Center

Valparaiso University’s College of Engineering is among the priorities targeted in the university’s latest fundraising campaign, the “Our Valpo, Our Time, 150th Anniversary Initiative.”

Publicly announced this past summer, the $200 million comprehensive initiative is the largest in Valpo’s history, designed to greatly enhance the university’s ability to carry out its faith-based educational mission.

Enhancements to the College of Engineering’s learning environment, specifically an addition to the south side of Gellersen Center, are an integral part of the initiative. The addition would provide flexible space for senior design projects; multidisciplinary design projects for all class levels; regional and national design competitions; and other projects. An endowment for building maintenance and upgrades also is being sought.

While there has been some success in engineering fundraising efforts to date—including a $2 million grant from the Caterpillar Foundation—there is much work to be done.

“Through the years, the College of Engineering has made tremendous advances in its programming,” says Dean Kraig Olejniczak ’87 EE. “Students and faculty are increasingly recognized nationally for their accomplishments. Yet a strong program needs the support of an adequate facility to continue to accomplish its goals.”

The importance of facilities in the College of Engineering is demonstrated by the fact that all labs are taught by full professors and used by students beginning in their first year of study. Well-equipped labs and first-rate facilities also help draw top-notch students and the best qualified faculty to the college.

“The success of the engineering component of the ‘Our Valpo’ initiative depends on the
decisions that alumni and friends make today,” Olejniczak says. “The world needs the kind of graduates that Valpo’s College of Engineering produces, and we need to continue to keep the bar raised on the educational experience we provide.”