Edmund D. Bossone Research Enterprise Center

Construction on the college's new $35 million Bossone Research Enterprise Center will also be complete by early 2005. The center, which will house facilities in nanotechnology, information networking and smart infrastructures, will open new research avenues for the next generation of Drexel students.

Thanks to a generous gift from distinguished alumnus Mr. Edmund Bossone ’53 and his wife Kathleen, construction is nearly complete on the 150,000 square foot Bossone Research Enterprise Center, which will house research facilities in numerous cutting-edge areas. The Bossone Center, which will open up new research avenues for the next generation of Drexel students, marks the College of Engineering’s first new building in two decades. The building is slated to be completed in January—but our work isn’t finished yet. We are currently raising funds to complete the building’s 300-seat auditorium, which will become the college’s new home for lecture classes, guest speakers, seminar series and important events such as Honors Day.

Design and documentation of a $37,600,000 project, consisting of a new 70,000 square feet, multistoried Research Building, as well as the reconfiguration and renovation of Commonwealth Hall.

Also completed ahead of schedule was the renovation of Commonwealth Hall, adjacent to the new building and home to Drexel's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. Many of the department's faculty and staff remained in the building during renovation amid complaints of ceiling leaks, freezing temperatures, dangerous noise levels and inaccessible elevators.

"It's great to come to the office and not have to listen to someone using a jackhammer 15 feet away," Assistant Department Head for Affairs Undergraduate Kevin Scoles commented. "Now I can listen to my iTunes collection again."

Doctoral student Adam O'Donnell was also grateful for the project's early completion. "It was 44 degrees in the office over the winter. It's nice to be able to work on my thesis without wearing gloves."

Lombardini attributes the early completion date solely to the dedication of the construction companies working on the project. "Drexel was satisfied with the expected completion date and the budget. It's entirely to the credit of the construction teams that this project was completed so early."