Jonsson Engineering Center

Introduction

Located between the Darrin Communications Center and the Greene Building, the Jonsson Engineering Center (JEC), is home to the RPI School of Engineering. It is 7 stories tall and resides on the south end of the 86 field. Opened in 1977, the building is dedicated to Mr. and Mrs. J. Erik Jonsson who made a donation of $2.6 million towards the final cost of $17.8 million. It is named after

History

The JEC was part of a massive renovation project that the university was taking on to upgrade office spaces and to replace the aging Engineering facilities at the school. When there was a plan for a new building announced in February of 1974, the architecture firm Levatich, Miller & Hoffman provided an in depth analysis of the surrounding buildings. Part of this plan was to upgrade the Sage, Troy, and Ricketts Buildings as well as building the Engineering Center. The ground breaking on April 18, 1975 was a very unique one, but one that only an engineer would think of. It was started with an underground explosion and was triggered by a long distance phone call from Mrs. Jonsson. These renovations would allow activities to move from the older West Hall, Carnegie, and Pittsburgh Buildings to more modernized buildings. Another fun fact about its construction is that the '86 field was called the '43 field during the construction. This is because half of the field was used as a staging area. A formal dedication of the JEC took place on October 7, 1977.

Modern Day

Today the JEC is still home to the Engineering department. Each floor holds different disciplines within engineering. For instance, the 5th floor is for Aeronautical engineering and the 4th floor is for Civil Engineering. The JEC contains a subsonic wind tunnel and several laboratories, such as the mechatronics lab and the geotechnical centrifuge research center. The building also houses the Engineering hub and the OT Swanson Multidisciplinary Design Lab, which is where various capstone and project based classes take place. Multiple machine labs are located throughout the building where students learn how to machine and create their own parts for their projects.

References

https://archives.rpi.edu/institute-history/building-histories/jonsson-engineering-center