Stevens breaks ground for a new building on the Hudson: The Babbio Center for Technology Management

The phrase "timing is everything" rings eerily these days at Stevens Institute of Technology. The university has been planning to break ground on a new academic building on the Hudson this month. As it turns out, Stevens will proceed with its plan on schedule - one month and a day following the fateful morning that changed forever the New York skyline just across the river from Stevens' campus.

The groundbreaking, set for 10:45 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 12, on Stevens' lower campus, is nevertheless a joyous occasion for Stevens. It marks the beginning of a major development at this private university on the Hudson: the creation of a new center for its internationally recognized education and research programs in technology management.

The new building will be named the Lawrence T. Babbio, Jr. Center for Technology Management, in honor of the Chairman of the Board of Stevens, Mr. Babbio, who is an alumnus, a major benefactor for Stevens, Vice Chairman of Verizon and President of its Telecom Group.

Babbio will speak at the groundbreaking ceremony, along with Stevens' President, Dr. Harold J. Raveche; the Hon. Jerry MacArthur Hultin, a recent Undersecretary of the Navy who is now the dean of Stevens' Wesley J. Howe School of Technology Management; as well as dignitaries from New Jersey and the surrounding area. In addition, the Stevens Board of Trustees, whose membership includes major business and industry leaders from around the nation, will be on hand for the ceremony.

"We will stand together this Friday in confidence and hope as we break ground on this new building," said Babbio. "We also will make our resolve clear. What we teach, and the research we conduct at Stevens are of vital importance to our nation and the world at this time. This new building will make it possible for us to do these important jobs even better."

The six-story building will include classrooms, faculty and administrative offices and spaces for executive education and related activities. According to the school's dean, the building's design will match the confidence and ingenuity that the Howe School of Technology Management already exhibits in its programs and research.

"We are creating secure enterprises that help the world grow and develop, and by strengthening executive education for the national and global economy, we will play an important role in meeting many of the toughest challenges we face today," said Hultin.

A full-color, booklet-style description and layout of the new building will be available at the groundbreaking ceremony. The architects, Ecoplan, P.A., of Englewood Cliffs, N.J., also will be present.

Ecoplan has already garnered an award for the building's design. The firm received a Bronze award for Excellence in Architecture from the New Jersey chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) late last year. More recently, Ecoplan was named AIA New Jersey's Firm of the Year for 2001.

The architectural design of the new Babbio Center includes the latest "green" sustainable technologies, underscoring the high-tech and practical mission of the school it will house. Among these features, photovoltaic cells on the roof will augment the internal lighting system, recycled hot water will heat the ground floor slab, windows will be operable, and carpeting will be made of post-consumer recycled materials.

Funding for the building has been provided by a generous gift from Lawrence T. Babbio, along with additional major financial contributions from Verizon, Lucent Technologies, AT&T, and the state of New Jersey. Stevens' alumni also have contributed.

The Wesley J. Howe School of Technology Management at Stevens is devoted to educating technology managers to lead and manage innovation in businesses around the globe. Students are prepared for success - now and in the future - through the blending of a unique curriculum, a global faculty of seasoned executives and academicians, a project-based, team-building approach, and a new concept called Technogenesis^®.

Technogenesis is Stevens' new approach to education. It involves nurturing creativity and fostering new ideas, designing and developing new technologies, and bringing them successfully to the marketplace. Students and faculty are integrally involved in this full process.

Much of the Howe School's success lies in the strong working relationships its faculty members have forged with business and government. Its success also lies the students themselves, as they bring their own insights, ideas and ambitions to their courses. The school currently includes an ample graduate student population - 1,657 students this fall - and an innovative new undergraduate program in business and technology.

For more information visit it online at www.stevens.edu/stmm/index.html

[Note to media: Please contact Cass Bruton-Ward, above, to arrange for parking and to get logistics.]

Hi-rez picture of the building: click-here

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.  

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