Engineering students will have an added advantage when entering the professional field, thanks to the new Boyd Product Realization Laboratory.

“[We] are extremely appreciative to the Boyd family for their generous gift,” said Donald Flugrad, associate professor in mechanical engineering.

James Boyd graduated from Iowa State in 1938. The couple said they have three sons and a granddaughter who are ISU alumni.

The James and Gayle Boyd Product Realization Laboratory will be part of Hoover Hall, which is under construction.

The Boyd Laboratory will consist of classrooms and break-out rooms with tables and chairs, smart presentation and projection boards and computer projectors, he said.

The smart boards can be marked with electronic markers, enabling engineering students to draw, edit or change a design and save it directly into a computer, Flugrad said.

A fabrication room will also be included in the new Boyd Lab. It will contain three milling machines, a lathe, CNC router and band and drill saws, he said.

A rapid prototyping unit, which uses Computer Aided Design to download a file based on a solid model, will create a part out of plastic for the student to analyze.

Software packages will also contribute to the success of the lab, Flugrad said. Finite element analysis (ANSYS), fluid-flow package (FLUENT) and the CAD programs Solid Works and Pro-Engineer will be available to students in the Boyd Lab, Flugrad said.

Classes will have priority access to the Boyd Laboratory, beginning with Mechanical Engineering 260, he said.

“If we have to live within current budget constraints, the lab will be open regular business hours, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.,” Flugrad said.

If a greater need for the fabrication shop is expressed, hours may be extended, he said.

The opening of the lab will have a “major impact on undergraduate curriculum,” Flugrad said.

The lab will be made to look “as close to an industrial setting as possible,” he said.

Brad Smith, junior in mechanical engineering, said, “[The lab] sounds beneficial, but I hope the committee is careful in choosing the right equipment. I hope they purchase larger milling machines so students can make practical products, rather than the four-by-four products made on the smaller milling machines.”

The lab is scheduled to open in October 2003.