Texas A&M University’s new Engineering Medicine program receives a new, unique space
By David Malone, Associate Editor
Texas A&M University and EYP have recently completed a renovation and modernization project of the university’s Engineering & Health Building for the Engineering Medicine (EnMed) program.
The program is an integrated medical and engineering option for medical school that focuses on innovation and entrepreneurship wherein students simultaneously earn their doctor of medicine and master of engineering in four years.
The EnMed building is located in the east of the Texas Medical Center. The facilities required an extensive renovation of two connected structures — a two-story former bank built in 1952 and a 17-story office tower built in 1962.
The exterior facade was replaced and redesigned and now features a unitized glazed curtain wall system with stone and metal panels. Inside, the building features large, reconfigurable learning studios, flexible classrooms, multidisciplinary labs, and glass-enclosed collaboration spaces. The elevator shafts in the old office building were small and needed to be made bigger to accommodate gurneys. The build team combined two elevator shafts and ordered a custom elevator to achieve the needed size.
A 2,471-sf maker space serves EnMed’s engineering curricula with reconfigurable tables, 3D printers, a machine shop, and a floor-to-ceiling glass partition system that provides views to what is happening inside. Embedded in the glass is one of the original bank vault doors that bridges the building’s past and future. Additionally, 3D modeling and virtual creation tools are available to all students in the VR and AR simulation rooms.
A medical education simulation center offers students skills-based training on the healthcare side of the program. The simulation suite provides a hospital environment complete with beds, mock headwalls, and integrated teaching space.
Also included are a cafe, a 240-seat auditorium, conference spaces, and support areas. The facility’s “crown jewel” is the 17th-floor board room and multifunction space, designed to attract students, faculty, and donors to the program.