February 27, 2014

Terry Fuller Petroleum Engineering Research Building Raises Bar for Immersive Learning Environments

If you’re a visual person, be warned: the new Terry Fuller Petroleum Engineering Research Building may cause sensory overload.

Step inside and you’re greeted by a life-sized pumpjack, a deep sea drill bit and a two-story rock wall stratified with geologic formations. And that’s just the lobby. Further in, the building is festooned with digital signs, interactive touch screens, and a curved, 23-foot cinematic display that dwarfs the front of a classroom.

But designers didn’t stop there. Everywhere you turn, the skin of the building has been peeled away to show the plumbing, ventilation and mechanical systems that make it tick. You can even see how the elevator works, while you wait for it to arrive.

In short, the entire building is a visual laboratory of sorts, and it’s just the kind of show-and-tell facility that department head Marshall Watson had in mind to inspire the next generation of petroleum engineers.

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