BYU-Idaho hosts open house for new facilities
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REXBURG — Students, faculty and the public were able to tour new state-of-the-art facilities at Brigham Young University-Idaho Tuesday.
An open house was held for new the Science and Technology Center as well as the Central energy facility.
Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dedicated the newly constructed facilities along with the Agricultural Science Center.
Located on the southern edge of campus on Sage Street, between Center Street and 1st West, the Science and Technology Center (STC) provides multifunctional labs, classrooms, open study areas, and faculty office space for the Departments of Animal and Food Science, Applied Plant Science, Computer Information Technology, and Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.
State-of-the-art laboratories and equipment in the STC provide students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences an applied learning environment that increases student engagement.
The new workspace also enables Computer Science and Electrical Engineering students to engage in a wide range of collaborative projects. Within the STC, The CIT Department showcases current cyber-security monitoring, server and network management, coding, as well as innovative teaching and student mentoring. These new facilities will better prepare students for their careers as successful leaders and innovators.
Construction of the Central Energy Facility was completed in the summer of 2016. The natural gas power plant replaced the coal-fired boilers from the previous building with new, more efficient equipment. The facility was recognized by Rocky Mountain Power Company in August of 2016 for taking steps to increase energy efficiency across campus.
The Agricultural Science Center, formerly known as the Livestock Center, was acquired by BYU-Idaho in 1978 and is located about five miles west of the BYU-Idaho campus. Reconstruction on several buildings and construction of 13 new structures took place from 2015-2017.
Sitting on 140 acres, the Agricultural Science Center has an indoor arena and classrooms used for instruction, along with structures that house livestock, providing students with hands-on experience in the field of agriculture and animal science. The new and remodeled facilities enable students to experience learning opportunities that were never before possible at BYU-Idaho.
A separate open house will be held for the Agricultural Science Center in the spring.