Engineering students to benefit from new state of the art graduate facility
Postgraduate engineering students at the University of Sheffield look set to benefit from a state of the art upgrade to teaching facility's and new research equipment following a $1million donation by a former student.
The funding, given by graduate Sze-yuen Chung, will be invested in the university's new Engineering Graduate School, which will become the centre of the Faculty of Engineering's postgraduate research and postgraduate teaching activities.
The university in July announced plans to invest £21m to upgrade its facilities in a bid to make it a world class centre of excellence. Construction on the new building is scheduled to start in early 2012 with completion due in mid 2013.
Professor Mike Hounslow, pro vice chancellor for the university´s Faculty of Engineering, said: "With increased competition in the university sector, the investment in facilities which this donation will enable will help strengthen Sheffield's long tradition in engineering education attracting students to study and live in the city.
"At the same time we will be creating jobs in the university to support our students and lead their research, and adding value to local businesses, creating high value, long term employment in the Sheffield city region."
The university's Faculty of Engineering is one of the largest in the UK. Its seven departments include more than 3,000 students and 800 staff and have a research related income worth more than £40m per annum from government, industry and charity sources.
