Higher education 2019: Tech Pointe II, IESB top Louisiana Tech story list

Louisiana Tech University saw its fair shake of expansion projects, grant monies, high-profile appearances and more in 2019.

Aside from stories associated with athletics or the April 25 tornado, which are covered in other year-in-review pieces, here are a few of Tech’s biggest headlines from the pages of the Ruston Daily Leader in 2019.

Tech teams turn in high performance at ASCE regional conference

For the first time in 15 years, Louisiana Tech University hosted the American Society of Civil Engineers Deep South Conference in April. And Tech’s competitive teams of engineering students did not disappoint.

With a total of 13 universities from four states taking part in the conference, Tech took first overall in the concrete canoe building and racing competition, as well as first in the ethics paper and presentation, third in the steel bridge competition, third in surveying, and fourth in a new sustainability doghouse build.

Tech students Katya Opel, left on the rightmost canoe, and Lannie Skelly, right, pull ahead in the women’s sprint concrete canoe race in April.

Tech inks agreements with CLTCC, SOWELA

Louisiana Tech University entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Central Louisiana Technical Community College in May with the goal of clearing a transition path from CLTCC’s Forestry Technology program to Tech’s Bachelor’s in Forestry degree.

The MOU will make it possible for students to garner up to 33 hours of course credit at CLTCC’s satellite campus in Winnfield and then transfer those credits to Tech.

Tech signed a similar agreement with SOWELA Technical Community College in June. When SOWELA students earn their associate degree in forestry, they can apply 12 hours of credit from that degree toward a Bachelor of Science in Forestry degree at Tech.

NASA astronaut lands at Tech

In September, NASA astronaut Dr. Serena Auñón-Chancellor kicked off Louisiana Tech’s 2019-20 “New Frontiers in Biomedical Research” seminar series by speaking to attendees at Tech’s Howard Auditorium about the medical research she performed during a recent 6-month trip aboard the International Space Station.

Auñón-Chancellor was a part of the three-astronaut Expedition 57 to the ISS from June 6 through Dec. 19, 2018. During the 197-day stay above the planet, she and her team participated in hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science.

Edwards, Guice unveil Tech Pointe II

Gov. John Bel Edwards visited Louisiana Tech University campus in October to join university President Les Guice in announcing two economic development partnerships.

Foremost was Tech Pointe II, a $15 million commercial office building that will expand Tech’s Enterprise Campus and provide more space for the university’s many corporate technology tenants. Tech Pointe II will span more than 60,000 square feet and will be located on the corner of Dan Reneau Drive and Homer Street.

Through Louisiana Economic Development, Edwards pledged the state would provide a matching $7.5 million to help fund the project, while a nonprofit offshoot of Tech will raise the remaining $7.5 million in private funds.

Second was the announcement of a new Louisiana Tech Research Institute operations hub at the Cyber Innovation Center in Bossier City, where Tech will bolster Barksdale Air Force Base’s Global Strike Command and related national defense efforts.

“Both of these exciting announcements boil down to a historic opportunity to make a difference in the future of our state by making a difference in the future of our students,” Edwards said from the front steps of the first Tech Pointe building.

Ruston, Tech win $17M BUILD grant

The city of Ruston, in partnership with Louisiana Tech University, won a $17 million federal Department of Transportation grant for the Monroe Street Corridor Project, it was announced in November.

Both Tech and the city will share in a roughly $4.6 million match to meet the total $22 million cost of the project.

The BUILD grant means the long-sought improvements to Monroe Street, portions of Dan Reneau Drive, Homer Street and other transportationconnectors in the area can begin.

The project also includes a new bicycle/ pedestrian path Tech wants to build alongside a portion of the Kansas City Southern railroad track, as well as installation of underground electrical and fiber optic utilities to provide real-time data on traffic, weather and parking information on the university campus.

“This transformative project will connect the Louisiana Tech campus to the city of Ruston and improve the quality of life for Tech students and all Ruston residents,” Tech President Les Guice said.

New Tech engineering building welcomes first classes

Pictured is the atrium and winding, open-air staircase inside the new Louisiana Tech University Intergrated Engineering and Science Building.

Louisiana Tech University’s new Integrated Engineering and Science Building opened its doors for classes in December, and students who walked through those doors quickly saw that Tech’s largest academic structure is not just another classroom building.

“When people see the facility, it’s obvious there’s nothing else like it on campus,” College of Engineering and Science Dean Hisham Hegab said.

The three-story, 130,000-square-foot building contains enough classrooms, research labs, handson learning spaces and faculty offices to accommodate virtually all first- and secondyear student programming in every major in the engineering college. All these facilities are built around a vast, open atrium and winding, open-air staircase that connects to each area of the building.