Exploring the Libra Complex

Welcome back prospective Mudders!

As a first-year student at Mudd, I have to admit that there are still several places on campus that I have yet to visit. So far, I have been very impressed with all of the facilities at Mudd. This is why I thought you might enjoy joining me on my first in-depth tour of Mudd’s underground Libra Complex. 

The Libra Complex is a series of tunnels that run under many of the academic buildings on campus. There was a previous blog about the Libra Complex , but the Libra Complex has changed quite a bit since this was written. First off, the renovations at Galileo are complete. Secondly, McGregor (the computer science building) now houses the Makerspace and connects to the rest of the Libra Complex. 

I’ve been to both the Makerspace and the main lecture hall in Galileo, however, I feel like I am truly exploring because I could not find a map of the Libra Complex before I started. With a lack of information, I decided it would be best to jump right in (starting with what I know of course)! This meant entering the Libra Complex at Galileo. First-year students become very accustomed to Galileo because this is where many first-year lectures meet for class. 

It was not long before I found a map. It was not the best map, but it was enough for me to come up with a rough idea of where to explore.

In addition to the map above, I found many other maps as well as markings that are on almost all of the walls and intersections. 

The corners of walls are painted with the names of each building. 

Thanks to all of these maps and colorful stripes that line the hallways, I never had doubts about what building I was underneath. Rest assured future frosh, you will not get lost in the Libra Complex. 

As I turned a few more corners I came across the Clinic labs. These are where senior engineering students work on their real-life projects for different companies. Each clinic project is assigned a space for the group of students to work. If you choose to come to Mudd, depending on your major you may get a chance to participate in Clinic too!

As I ventured deeper and deeper into the Libra Complex, I came across the sophomore engineering-79 lab. All mudders take engineering-79 their sophomore fall as part of Mudd’s core. This lab even contains a tank for E-79 students to test their underwater robots. 

As I wrapped my way around the back side of the Libra complex, I was starting to get a little nervous because the hallways were very empty and a little bit darker. Then I realized that most of these rooms were actually offices. Since the professors at Mudd are so great, there is no reason to fear this area of the Libra Complex. I came around another corner and was temporarily blinded by the bright lights of the Makerspace and Machine Shop. 

You’ve probably already heard about the Machine Shops and Makerspace, but let me tell you, I had no idea how many machine shops there were hidden in the halls of the Libra Complex. In fact, I lost count of how many doors had signs that read “machine shop”. I’m not sure how many of these are open to general use, however, Mudd has many classes that teach students how to manufacture different things. The most common of these classes is E-4 which is commonly known as the hammer-building class because students build a hammer as one of their projects. 

Speaking of building things, I found several prototypes during my journey. 

The final notable thing that I found in the Libra Complex was many of Harvey Mudd’s lab spaces, including both lab spaces for classes as well Professor’s labs. These labs give Mudd students opportunities to have hands-on experience in many different specialized areas. 

The Libra Complex turned out to have many different useful spaces in it. I would consider my exploration successful because I did not get lost and I came back with many pictures to share with you all!