The promise of the Centre for Engineering Innovation definitely helped to convince Sarah Kwiatkowski to study at the University of Windsor. Now the promise is being fulfilled for the second-year electrical engineering major.

“I am so excited about having everything in one place—classes, labs, professors’ offices,” she says. “This building played a huge role in my decision to come here.”

Kwiatkowski was one of a group of students to make the first use of the building’s second phase on Monday, as part of professor Esam Abdel-Raheem’s lab in circuit analysis. University officials, including UWindsor president Alan Wildeman and dean of engineering Mehrdad Saif, were on hand to mark the occasion.

“You are the pioneers—the very first class in the Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation,” Dr. Wildeman said. “You are launching us into the next half-century.”

Dr. Saif noted that the building is the result of years of effort: “A lot of people worked very hard to make it a reality.”

He said it will prove a catalyst for discoveries by students and researchers and said he is proud to have been present for its opening.

“This is a landmark occasion in the history of Windsor Engineering,” he said.

Work continues on the building’s construction. Additional facilities, including more lab spaces, classrooms and offices will open in the coming weeks.

Watch a video interview with Sarah Kwiatkowski:

First class in the Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation, September 17, 2012