The Dathe Family Student Project Center, a new on-campus workspace and storage facility for engineering clubs, opened Saturday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Located behind the Research Development Center (BLDG. 4), the Dathe Center will provide outdoor workspace for student projects previously limited to the Research Development Center’s aerospace hangar.
The center consists of a large concrete pad covered by an awning, with two repurposed shipping containers to serve as storage space around it. The area that it currently sits in was previously unused, according to Hangar Shop Manager Mike Hillman.
“We love the lab we normally work in, [but] it can get cramped with all of the other teams that are in there,” biomedical engineering junior Patrick Mcgee said.
Dean of Engineering Amy Fleischer said the center might be used for classes that need outdoor space in the future.
“A lot of our engineering classes need build activities, and we don’t have enough space inside to do all our build activities,” Fleischer said. “This is a great outdoor space where we could work on that type of activity.”
The ceremony also celebrated the project’s donors, Bob and Carlotta Dathe, two Cal Poly alumni who said they hope the space will inspire students to create and embrace the spirit of “Learn By Doing.” They have pledged $300,000 to the center and will donate an additional $35,000, according to a university press release.
“I want [students] to get interested in engineering and manufacturing, come up with good ideas and apply the information they’re learning in school,” Bob Dathe told Mustang News. “That’s the fun of this.”
The ceremony featured a showcase of several different student projects from engineering clubs. These clubs included Formula SAE, Baja SAE, and Supermileage, each of which showed off this year’s design of a student-built car.
Bob Dathe shared that after graduating from Cal Poly in 1960, he joined his father’s manufacturing business, sparking his love for hands-on creating. For the Dathes, the experience gained from “Learn By Doing” at Cal Poly was incredibly important.
“Cal Poly is ‘Learn By Doing,’” Carlotta Dathe told Mustang News. “If you don’t have a place to do, you don’t have an opportunity to see the things you’re interested in.”