Taking technology higher
The Tucker Technology Center opens its doors for class. Students and faculty have high expectations for the $25 million building that houses the mathematics, engineering and computer science departments.
By Sarah McNamara
Staff Reporter

Walt Williamson said he believes there are two things that make a successful engineering program, a first-rate facility and equipment and a first-rate faculty.

Williamson, chairman of the engineering department, said TCU has had excellent engineering faculty — but now is the time for the facility.

Since the completion of the William E. and Jean Jones Tucker Technology Center in early June, no other engineering facility in the country can compare to its resources, said Mike McCracken, dean of the College of Science and Engineering.

“The faculty and staff will be using the newest and best equipment out on the market,” he said.

A new feature to the engineering department is a Clean Room facility which allows the department to teach skills needed to manufacture small electronic devices, said Williamson.

The building where the engineering, mathematics and computer science departments are housed, has 11 classrooms, nine teaching labs and a gourmet café. Plans for a new engineering building have been in the works since the beginning of the department in 1992, Williamson said. But the Tucker Technology Center means more than additional classrooms and office space, McCracken said — it’s about bringing together faculty and students and allowing the departments and programs to grow.

Charlotte Carp, a junior math major, said she is excited to have classes in the Tucker Technology Center.

“It will be a nice change to have a class in a brand new building that has so many available resources,” Carp said.

Construction on the $25 million building began in October of 2000.

“We want to have a competitive facility that puts out first-rate engineers,” Williamson said.

Before, McCracken said, faculty of the engineering, math and computer science departments have occupied shared spaces in Sid Richardson, Winton Scott and Bass buildings which put significant limitations on the departments.

One of the most significant technological features of the Tucker Center is the flexibility it provides, McCracken said.

Classrooms can be easily rearranged if needed with moveable tables and chairs and much of the newer engineering and computer science equipment which is compact, almost miniaturized, a popular trend in the engineering field, he said.“The building is very student friendly, with great interaction areas between the students and faculty,” said Patrick Walter, an engineering senior design lecturer, “It really is a building of the future.”

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