Development of Multifunctional Educational Spaces

This paper focuses on multifunctional educational space development for engineering programs, especially for mechanical and manufacturing engineering. The author has been designing and developing new instructional spaces in his school for the last ten years. Most of these spaces originally was aimed for a single function, laboratory or classroom. Due to limitations in space and growing research needs, this engineering program requires development of multipurpose learning and research spaces. Recent efforts included design and development of facilities in limited square footage for a combination of physical laboratories, teaching and computing spaces, in varying areas ranging from 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing to Engineering Mechanics. Additional laboratory design activities have also been carried out for creative and innovative design spaces including some for integrated capstone and cross-disciplinary projects, along with off-campus development. This paper will summarize educational learning and research facility development trends in academia including selection of educational equipment, digital tools, flexible furniture, and utilization of white board paint or magnetic boards. Safety and environmental issues are covered. The trends in K-12 education and their applicability to college level efforts are also included within the scope of this paper, together with multiple design and development cases and their impact on the capabilities of programs. The development cases will also encompass reconfiguration of laboratories through lean principles and reuse purposes. The paper will be concluded with an assessment component and future work.