The school has 3,600 students enrolled and, based on estimates, will grow to twice that number in seven years, Dr. Wildenthal said. When the building opened in 1992, half of it was sealed off because the university didn't have enough faculty members for it. That quickly changed. We were building the future. In the meantime, we've not only filled it all up.
Teaching assistants are in another building.
Professors say they have to split classes into multiple groups because the engineering school has no auditorium or large lecture halls to accommodate class sizes. The new building would include both. Dr. Cy Cantrell, an engineering professor at UTD for 20 years, said it's a good sign that the university was in need of space. The companies' contributions, some geared toward specific fields, emphasize that point, he said. Zyvex, also based in Richardson, is donating the same amount during five years to put a nanotechnology center in the school.