Patrick F. Taylor Hall contains more than 400,000 square feet of space to provide students and faculty with state-of-the-art classrooms and labs. With so much to explore, the College of Engineering recruiting staff created a self-guided tour to showcase the engineering building and everything it has to offer.
To start the tour, one scans a QR code at the first stop, the Capstone Gallery and follow the online map to hear audio descriptions. All that is needed is a phone for online explanations and earbuds to hear the audio.
Director of Communications for the College of Engineering Joshua Duplechain is excited about the tour because it displays what PFT has to offer.
“There’s really so much to see and so much going in the building that the tour has already chosen the 14 highlights for you to check out when you’re here,” Duplechain said. “You’ll get to see our Robotics Lab, our virtual reality BIM Cave, our beautiful Capstone Gallery, and a number of other spaces.”
Duplechain said the self-guided tour was created when recruiters had large groups of prospective students and families in need of tours of PFT.
“It was created to help our recruiting staff and ambassadors, who normally give the tours, to help to meet the demand,” Duplechain said. “We’re very fortunate to have this building and the facilities that we do. As such, a lot of people want to get a tour of the building. This self-guided tour allows them to do that without first having to schedule something.”
Biological engineering freshman Chloe Heitmeier said she was unaware a self-guided tour was developed but thinks it’s a neat idea. However, she thinks that there is also valuable information to be learned from a tour guide.
“Physical tour guides know the best-underrated study spaces,” Heitmeier said. “You can be taken through cool highlights with a self-guided tour, but with a real tour guide, you get realistic information about the building”
Chemical engineering freshman Holden Horridge believes that a self-guided tour is a good idea as long as prospective students still have the option to be led by someone educated on the building.
“Sure, it is a good idea, but sometimes human interaction is just better than what technology can do,” Horridge said.
The tour contains 14 stops. Prospective students can see main common spaces, student-focused lab spaces and the Student Services Suite. Recruiting and Outreach Manager Andy Osborn said that Chevron Engineering Ambassador-led tours will still be offered.
“Our Chevron Engineering Ambassadors actually give almost all of the building tours – and we definitely still offer tours every weekday for students who sign up online,” Osborn said. “The self-guided tour is to be a supplement option for building tours, but it definitely isn’t a replacement for our robust Chevron Engineering Ambassador program and tour offerings.”