Sen. Mike Enzi was joined by Gov. Matt Mead and University of Wyoming president Tom Buchanan at the groundbreaking for the Michael B. Enzi STEM Facility Friday.
The STEM Facility, which stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics, will be located on the north side of campus between 10th and 11th streets. The building, which will be about 100,000 square feet and will have about 32 laboratories, is scheduled to open in the spring of 2015. Courses it will be used for will include, but are not limited to, general chemistry, general biology and organic chemistry.
The groundbreaking ceremony was emceed by Buchanan who said that all students at the university will eventually use the building.
“New facilities do make a difference,” Buchanan said. “This facility will serve all undergraduates regardless of what college they are in.”
Buchanan then recognized the governor for his continued support of the university and the new facility.
“Fortunately for Wyoming and its only university, our current governor continues the tradition of support for the university and in particular for enhanced science, technology, engineering and mathematics education,” Buchanan said.
Gov. Mead then addressed the audience to explain why the STEM Facility was important to the university.
“As we see the needs around the state, as we see the needs around the country, and in fact the needs around the world, and as we look at those jobs that really need to be filled, there’s a premium for those who have a background in STEM,” Mead said.
Mead went on to say that STEM education could be also be a solution for many employment and energy concerns that are facing the nation.
“We have, so-to-speak, crunched the numbers in the equation and the solution for many of the things that we do in the state and the country is STEM education,” Mead said.
Board of Trustees President Dave Bostrom was also present at the ceremony and took the time to directly address Sen. Enzi, for whom the facility will be named.
“You’ve reached across party lines, you’ve reached through walls and you’ve done everything you could to bring people together. That’s what this facility does. Every student will go through there,” Bostrom said. “They’re not there because of their college, they’re there because of the facility that brings them together.”
The last to take the stage was Sen. Enzi himself, who said that this facility will be important to the university because it is a crucial part of what Wyoming does.
“This is a state of dreamers. This is a state of people who work and get up every morning, who get their hands dirty so that the rest of the nation can have electricity and food,” Enzi said. “This building is just one small result of dreamers.”
Enzi also emphasized the importance of the facility because he believes that students who use it could make a dramatic difference in the future of energy.
“I am convinced that at some point, a student that comes through this building will come up with the new energy idea. Something that we haven’t even thought of yet and one that will supersede everything else,” Enzi said. “That’s the kind of dreamers that we have in this state.”
Following the introductions to the new facility, the ceremony moved outside where Enzi, Mead and Buchanan were joined by Sen. John Barrasso and Congressman Cynthia Lummis in taking the first steps in digging the dirt for the new building.
