€250m STEM building at TUS in Athlone to be officially opened tomorrow
The state-of-the-art STEM building on the Athlone TUS campus will be officially opened tomorrow (Thursday) by Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless.
Named The Mary Ward Centre of Science, the 6,000 sq. m. building boasts 20 science labs and will create capacity for up to 1,300 students and 70 staff.
The building received rave reviews from those who got a first look inside at the recent TUS Athlone Spring Open Evening, with some people saying they were speechless, while others praised the fresh and modern atmosphere, and the facilities.
One person who enjoyed a first look at the new building said: "The communal space in there is unreal, it's like nothing I've ever seen before. There are lots of spaces to do group projects."
Another person described the building as amazing and said it was a credit to everyone at TUS.
The new STEM building, located to the north west of the Dublin Road frontage, features an entrance plaza, tiered seating, science and computer laboratories and equipment, lecture theatres, and office space and connects with the campus’s existing engineering building and new polymer centre of excellence.
The new building is one of six being delivered by a Public Private Partnership (PPP), with an overall price tag of approximately €250 million ex VAT.
The others are located in the Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) Tallaght and Blanchardstown campuses; Munster Technological University (MTU) campuses in Cork and Tralee, and in the Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT), Dún Laoghaire.
Funding was confirmed in late 2017 before a planning application was lodged in 2019 for the building.
The new building alone will cater for some 800 students, but will free up space elsewhere on campus to allow an intake of a total of more than 1,300 extra students.
The new building is named in honour of Mary Ward, cousin of William Parsons, the third Earl of Rosse, Birr. Mary was a self-taught expert in natural history and microscopy.
Born Mary King in Ballylin, near Ferbane, in 1827, she always had a deep love for nature. Mary's scientific journey began in her teens when she as gifted a microscope, sparking a lifelong passion for studying the natural world.
She was a talented painter and draughtsman and created exquisite illustrations that were featured in scientific publications.
Mary also authored educational books, including 'Sketches with the Microscope', which made the wonders of microscopy accessible to many.