UTSA Science & Engineering Building

Developing creativity and turning innovations into tangible applications.

The recently completed University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Science and Engineering Building is approximately 140,000 SF spread across four stories with a mechanical penthouse on the 5th floor. In addition to classrooms, maker spaces, faculty offices, science and engineering instructional laboratories, this facility also houses UTSA’s new chemical engineering program, which launched this fall.

The bachelor’s program will prepare students for careers in the oil and gas, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, environmental engineering, and materials engineering industries. The building includes a two-story distillation column that will allow chemical engineering students to study different types of mixtures, just as practicing chemical engineers do in industrial facilities. The instrument was made possible by a gift from Bill and Margie Klesse through the Klesse Foundation.

The Details

Dedicated gathering area where people with similar engineering and technology interests can collaborate on projects by sharing ideas, equipment, materials, and knowledge.

Includes the new Center for Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship to help faculty members and students take UTSA discoveries, products, and services to market.

Features significant exterior and interior glass, with many laboratories surrounded by glass to create science on display—allowing students and visitors to observe ongoing work.

Designed to encourage interaction among students from different majors and create opportunities for students to connect with people who have different interests.

This approach has been shown to engage more students in research and improve student retention and graduation rates.