The University updated the engineering building in September with a new and improved machine shop that recently opened for mechanical engineering students. “With LSU’s College of Engineering consistently ranking nationally as a top engineering school, it is great to see that we are now giving the students the proper tools they need,” said Mimi Lavalle, associate director of the College of Engineering. The new student shop, a computer numerically controlled machine shop, is named for Robert Alford, a 1957 graduate of the mechanical engineering college and donator to the machine shop. He is also the founder, CEO and chairman of AWC, Inc., an engineering supplies company in Baton Rouge. “[Mechanical engineering] was one of my favorite classes when I was at LSU. I always thought that class provided excellent practical experience,” Alford said in a news release. Along with new furniture and fresh paint, the machine shop was reformatted with high-tech mill machines, new welding tools and a separate welding area. This was all made possible by more than $100,000 in donations from Alford and a portion of the Student Technology Fee. “Good engineers need to have an appreciation of how things are made, and a good shop provides important tools for student learning,” said Glenn Sinclair, Department of Mechanical Engineering chair. Several technicians are in the shop to monitor the engineering processes and make sure safety is enforced. They, along with several student assistants, run the lab. In the shop, students make parts for everyday machines and practice various engineering techniques. “This lab is a step in the right direction because we used to be behind on technology compared to the rest of the campus, and now we have really leaped ahead,” said Jim Layton Jr., lab technician. “You can’t do the things we need to do with just regular machines, and these machines also help our workers be more proficient.”
—-Contact Gina Zanutto at [email protected]