Jul 17, 2005 - Claremont, Calif. -

Harvey Mudd College (HMC) has been awarded a $500,000 grant from The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation for the purpose of creating an Engineering Project Design Studio and Instructional Center.

The grant will fund three new facilities to be located in existing classroom space in the west wing of the college's Parsons Engineering Building. The first is a project design studio that will be used for design classes and project work; it will accommodate multiple groups of students.

The second is a computer-aided instructional classroom that will offer hands-on use of computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) software. It will have a combination of fixed-computer workstations and laptop computers, which will enable students to carry a computer between the classroom, studio and conference room.

In addition to these two areas, HMC will also construct an interactive conference and seminar room that will accommodate presentations and seminars for team projects, conferences and design reviews. The room will be equipped for video conferencing with a plasma screen, cameras and audio equipment to receive and transmit communications with remote parties. Interactive digital white boards will facilitate distance collaboration and distributed design work. Renovation of the existing facilities is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2005 and completed in time for the fall 2006 semester.

Tony Bright, John Leland Atwood Chair of Engineering Science at HMC, said the new state-of-the-art facilities will "help us to move to the next stage in engineering education here at Mudd -- student-centered studio-based learning, building upon and enhancing our students' Clinic experience of solving authentic engineering design and research problems for sponsor organizations around the country."

The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation (http://www.rmpf.org) was founded nearly 30 years ago and strives to support and aid the work of the region's finest nonprofit organizations. The Foundation recognizes that "many of those in need today will go on to shape the future of Southern California, to define it, redefine it, and help it set and achieve new goals."

The Parsons Foundation has supported Harvey Mudd College through much of its nearly 50-year existence through financial aid for students, faculty endowment, research facilities and building projects. The foundation’s name is associated with the building that houses the HMC Department of Engineering.