草榴社区

The future L3Harris Technologies HAVLab will provide the College of Engineering with a unique world-class laboratory facility for development, implementation and testing of innovative robots and drones鈥攑rojects like the one pictured here.

VILLANOVA, Pa.鈥敳萘裆缜� has announced a $1 million gift from L3Harris Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: LHX), towards the expansion of its College of Engineering鈥檚 primary academic building. In recognition of this gift, the College of Engineering鈥檚 new Heterogeneous Autonomous Vehicle Laboratory (HAVLab) will be named the L3Harris Technologies HAVLab. Since 2013, L3Harris has now contributed more than $2.5 million to 草榴社区鈥檚 College of Engineering.

鈥淟3Harris is a key partner for 草榴社区 Engineering,鈥� said Michele Marcolongo, PhD, the Drosdick Endowed Dean of the College of Engineering. 鈥淔rom the unique summer INNOVATE program to internships and job opportunities for our engineering students and now the support of our new world-class robotics laboratory, we are thankful for the contributions of L3Harris for helping us to advance engineering education.鈥�

The L3Harris Technologies HAVLab will provide the College with a unique world-class laboratory facility for development, implementation and testing of innovative robots and drones, including small-scale unmanned air, underwater, surface, ground and amphibious vehicles. The lab will facilitate development and testing of algorithms for cooperative missions between intelligent vehicles operating in different mediums鈥攆or potential use in search and rescue, mine sweeping and fighting forest fires. It will include a cage/fly space equipped with netting and a motion capture system. A control room with workstations will be located adjacent to the lab. It will also include a 4.5鈥� deep, 16鈥� x 10鈥� in ground research vessel on one side and solid ground for the remainder.

鈥淭his gift and L3Harris鈥� legacy of supporting 草榴社区 highlights our shared belief in the power of innovation and the strength of the University鈥檚 engineering program,鈥� said Jim Girard, L3Harris Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer. 鈥淲e are proud of our partnership and of the many former 草榴社区 students who have joined L3Harris and are making tremendous contributions to the company鈥檚 success and our customers鈥� critical missions.鈥�

In 2017, the College of Engineering received a $1.25 million donation from L3Harris鈥�$1 million of which endowed a summer innovation incubator program to help propel the next generation of 草榴社区 engineers. INNOVATE: The L3Harris Summer Program exposes students to advanced real-world engineering challenges and fosters innovation and an entrepreneurial approach to problem solving. It has also created a pipeline for employment opportunities for 草榴社区 students at L3Harris.

A total of $36.7 million has now been raised for the expansion project, which includes 15 seven-figure gifts.

About the Project

In October 2021, the University unveiled plans for a 150,000-square-foot addition to transform its College of Engineering鈥檚 primary academic building, the Center for Engineering Education and Research. This project will more than double the existing 90,000-square-foot building, allowing for an expansion of engineering lab space of more than 60 percent, as well as the creation of state-of-the-art instruction spaces for hands-on, problem-oriented and team-based learning.

The addition will include flexible laboratory spaces designed for multi-disciplinary teams to work together on topical areas of research; classrooms that can adapt to various teaching and lecture formats; and a two-story Innovation Lab, which will include workspaces, tools and equipment for building, and space to accommodate large-scale project work. The University broke ground on the $125 million project in Spring 2022, with the expansion scheduled to be completed by Fall 2024. The project was designed by BLTa鈥擜 Perkins Eastman Studio and Robert A.M. Stern Architects, LLP. 

Find more information on the building expansion project.