Oct 02, 2023 | by Theresa D'Orsi | Dartmouth Engineer
The West End is buzzing. It's a late spring night at the end of term and students majoring in engineering, computer science (CS), and more are making the most of the complex's resources.
In the Materials Processing Lab, engineering sciences major Micah Green ’25 creates alloy samples. Micah, who studies mechatronics, and fellow members of his ENGS 24: Science of Materials student team will laser treat the samples into low melting-point optical fibers later that night.
BE students Gebriel Belaineh Th’23, Walter Mwaniki Th’23, and Phyo Kyaw Th’23 put final projects through their paces for ENGS 26: Control Theory.
Photographs by Rob Strong '04
They're powering up spiders in the Reality & Robotics Lab, tinkering on final ENGS 21 prototypes in the Couch Project Design Lab, and classifying lung obstructions in the Analog Lab. The recently renovated campus at the end of Tuck Mall is designed to encourage innovation without boundaries. The addition of the five-story Class of 1982 Engineering and Computer Science Center (ECSC) on one end and the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society on the other, connecting with walkways and tunnels through MacLean and Cummings Hall, ensure a smooth transition between disciplines. Perfect for powering student efforts beyond the 9-to-5.
"Everything—from the floors to the furniture and to the tools in every classroom—encourages connection, creativity, collaboration, and active learning."
Dean Alexis Abramson
Engineering physics major Neo Cai '25 finalizes his team's design for ENGS 21: Introduction to Engineering in Couch Project Design Lab. Given a "play and games" theme by Professor Elizabeth Murnane, Cai and classmates Janelle Annor '24, Eva Ferrari '24, Maria Cristoforo '24, Claire Green '25 designed a post-workout muscle roller for athletes. The team began by studying research by Professor Douglas Van Citters '99 Th'03 Th'06 to determine ideal roller time, then developed a foam prototype with a 12-LED strip that starts glowing red and transitions to green when the ideal one-minute cycle is complete.
Biology major Hannah Spindler '23 and human-centered design minors Danni Lu '25 and Sasha Fear '26 gather in Couch Project Lab II to work on their final project for ENGS 12: Design Thinking. They were developing a web program to connect freshmen with alumni for short-term job shadowing opportunities.
PhD candidate Luyang Zhao records the progress on her research, "Starbots: Soft Self-Reconfigurable Lattice Robots," in the Reality & Robotics Lab. With Professor Devin Balkcom, she is crafting soft robotic blocks that can work in unison to create structures able to bear weight, walk, grip objects, and transport loads. "We set out to design robotic blocks that can join up in different ways to perform different functions," she says.
In the Cable Makerspace, engineering sciences major Ericka Tamayo-Guevara ’24 uses a 3D printer to create pieces for a box with a clear acrylic lid.
Two members of the Robotics Club—CS and digital arts major Ian Kiplagat ’25 and CS and neuroscience major Edwin Onyango ’25—work on a spider robot as a "simplified" way to study locomotion. The new Reality & Robotics Lab in the ECSC supplied all the tools and parts needed to get the prototype moving.
CS major Devon Starr '25 studies in the Digital Applied Learning and Innovation (DALI) Lab, where he is a developer.
Across the room in the Cable Makerspace, CS major Harold Than '23 finalizes the walking dinosaur he created to study the mechanics of joints and rotation.
In the ECSC atrium, Meghan Kerfoot ’26 interviews Amaya Bonn ’26 and Lily Chabica ’26 for a “need” video on the problem of food waste on campus for ENGS 12: Design Thinking course.
In the Irving atrium, economics and geography major Jaime Chuidian '23 works on a final paper examining electric vehicle markets and how incentives vary by state.
Located between Thayer and Tuck School of Business, the 55,000-square-foot institute has become one of the more popular study spaces for students across all disciplines since it opened last year.
In the Irving atrium, Shaochen Shi '25 writes a final paper on Sparta excavation sites for his archaeology class, "Rediscovering Sparta." "I like the study space," says the classics major.
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