UAB Inaugurates Frances and Miller Gorrie Hall

News Summary

The University of Alabama at Birmingham has inaugurated the Frances and Miller Gorrie Hall, a $77 million facility supporting the School of Engineering. Spanning 110,000 square feet, the hall features advanced labs, research suites, and a Student Success Center, fostering collaboration and innovation among students and faculty. Named after prominent community figures, this new building enhances UAB’s educational infrastructure and aims to attract top talent while promoting hands-on engineering experiences for students.

UAB, Birmingham – The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has officially inaugurated the Frances and Miller Gorrie Hall, a new state-of-the-art facility costing $77 million that will support the School of Engineering. The ribbon-cutting ceremony marks a significant milestone in enhancing the university’s academic infrastructure and will be ready for student use in the fall of this academic year.

Covering 110,000 square feet, the Gorrie Hall is part of UAB’s ongoing efforts to expand its Science and Engineering Complex. The building is designed to foster collaboration and innovation among students, faculty, and staff, and features advanced laboratories, comprehensive research suites, and dedicated peer tutoring labs aimed at enhancing the educational experience.

The building is named after Miller Gorrie and his wife Frances, in recognition of their significant contributions to the community and the field of engineering. Miller Gorrie is widely known as the founder of Brasfield & Gorrie, a prominent construction firm. The facility’s construction involved collaborations with several firms, including Goodwyn Mills Cawood for architecture and engineering, Brasfield & Gorrie as the general contractor, and Lord Aeck Sargent for the design of research and lab spaces.

According to UAB School of Engineering Dean Jeffrey Holmes, the Frances and Miller Gorrie Hall serves as a tangible representation of the university’s aspirations for its engineering program. The facility is expected to enhance UAB’s competitiveness in attracting top-tier students and faculty while increasing opportunities for grant funding dedicated to cutting-edge research.

The design of the new building includes a Student Success Center, which will feature a Peer Tutoring Lab and an Internship and Career Center aimed at providing support and resources to students as they prepare for their future careers. The facility also houses a materials testing lab that spans 2,000 square feet, dedicated to testing materials like concrete and steel, thus enabling hands-on interactions with engineering concepts for visiting K-12 students.

In addition to the materials testing lab, Gorrie Hall includes various facilities such as teaching labs, a design and rapid prototyping lab, and a research suite focused on transportation and smart cities. Common areas and an outdoor patio are designed to promote interaction among students, staff, and faculty, thereby centralizing academic and research efforts.

The completion of the Frances and Miller Gorrie Hall represents a major investment in UAB’s educational infrastructure and correlates with a broader trend of universities across the U.S. investing in new facilities to provide enhanced learning environments. UAB President Ray L. Watts remarked on how the new building will help the university tap into increased funding for innovative research, underscoring its potential impact on the institution’s future.

As students eagerly anticipate utilizing the latest amenities and resources in Gorrie Hall, the university expects the facility to play a crucial role in fostering the next generation of engineers, ultimately contributing to UAB’s mission of advancing education, research, and innovation in the engineering field.