Best of CASE District VII Award
 

Institution: University of California, Davis

Title of entry: Grand Opening Celebration: UCD Diane Bryant Engineering Student Design Center

About this entry: In May 2023, the UC Davis College of Engineering celebrated the grand opening of the Diane Bryant Engineering Student Design Center (ESDC). This $22M donor-funded project expanded a 9,000 sq foot machining and fabrication lab to 23,000 sq feet that is now the hub of our college’s innovation ecosystem.

This highly anticipated grand opening event included remarks from the UC Davis Chancellor, College of Engineering Dean, the primary donor, Diane Bryant, and an undergraduate student representative, as well as featured a ceremonial ribbon cutting. Following the program, our 200+ guests were given a custom “access badge” and facility map, so they could set off on a self-guided tour. Every space in the ESDC included student or faculty teams to engage with guests, present engineering projects and demonstrate the capabilities of the new space. Donor recognition and gratitude was present throughout the grand opening. We utilized donor photos and personalized thank you notes on the television screens throughout the building, as well as posted photos of donors from hardhat tours. The two-year construction process was encapsulated with a gallery wall of printed progress photos and the construction camera’s time-lapse video played on a loop. Videos from the groundbreaking and faculty, staff and student testimonials were also played in another space. We topped off the experience with engineering-themed appetizers and beverage selections, and served wine in lab beakers as a nod to the composites lab.