Kennesaw State University Breaks Ground on New STEM Facility

Kennesaw State University’s Marietta Campus recently broke ground on a new Interdisciplinary STEM Building (ISTEM) on its campus, according to university news.  The facility will measure 70,000 square feet and feature both research and teaching space across a variety of disciplines. Completion is scheduled for fall 2025.

At a groundbreaking ceremony on Feb. 2, KSU President Kathy Schwaig commented, “As an institution that's working to build our research infrastructure, this building is going to be a key component to our research mission. We solve problems not within disciplines, but across disciplines and so we will see advancements happen out of these laboratories that impact all the disciplines that we have on this campus and on our Kennesaw Campus such as business, the arts, the humanities, health, science and education.”

Amenities will include wet, dry, high-bay, cybersecurity research, teaching, and chemistry- and biology-based teaching labs, as well as classrooms and private study areas. It will also increase opportunities for student competition teams like the Aerial Robotics Team, the news release reports.

“I speak on behalf of the KSU Marietta Campus student body when I say that we are absolutely thrilled and thankful to have the ISTEM building here,” said KSU mechanical engineering student and President’s Parliament Student Ambassador Nick Farinacci. “We are incredibly grateful to those who made it possible. The ISTEM building will be such an amazing resource for our students and a new hub of innovation and learning.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Rethinking K-12 Schools as a Continuous Learning Experience

    Most students move through three or more separate facilities during their K-12 journey, yet the built environments they encounter at each stage have traditionally been designed in isolation, with little continuity in spatial language, learning philosophy, or physical resources. Each new school is a reset with different layouts, learning models, expectations, and ways of moving through a building. The next generation of school design is making the case that the first day of kindergarten and the last day of high school can and should feel connected through common support systems and infrastructure in the physical environment.

  • Planning with Clarity: Using AI to Make Better Campus Decisions, Not Just Better Designs

    Higher education leaders are being asked to make increasingly high-stakes decisions about campus facilities amid greater uncertainty than ever before. Social and economic pressures, shifting enrollment, and evolving learning models compete with growing deferred maintenance needs to strain even the most robust infrastructure budgets.

  • Virginia Tech Tops Out New College of Engineering Building

    Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., recently celebrated the topping out of Mitchell Hall, which will soon stand as the largest College of Engineering building on campus, according to a news release. The university partnered with Skanska on the 285,500-square-foot facility, which has an expected completion date of winter 2028.

  • Children walking along bright school corridor with motion blur

    How Next-Gen Design Is Reshaping the Student Experience

    The environments where students learn play a crucial role in shaping their growth in and out of the classroom. By centering design on well-being, flexibility, and purpose, districts can ensure their facilities remain vibrant community assets for many years to come.