Copyright Baton Rouge Advocate
Southern University will build three chemical engineering labs and a career development center with a $5 million donation from Shell, the college announced Tuesday. Southern's chemical engineering program will receive a "significant portion" of the donation for one junior-level lab and two senior-level labs. Lealon Martin, the dean of the College of Sciences and Engineering, said the labs will train chemical engineering students to use tools they will utilize in their careers and fill roles in engineering projects across the state. Martin said the experiential learning opportunities will help students capitalize on the job opportunities in the state like the Hyundai steel mill plant in Ascension Parish, which is expected to create 1,300 full-time jobs. Ascension Parish will also be home to CF Industries' blue ammonia plant, which will create 50 direct jobs, and an air separation unit for the plant will create 15 direct jobs. "Louisiana is in a season of abundance," Martin said. The labs will be located in Pinchback Hall, where most of the science and engineering programs are housed, and will contain artificial intelligence tools for data acquisition and analysis. Martin said the donation will also fund lab activities for first-year students across the engineering school and the computer engineering program. Southern will create a "student success center" with career development and academic support services with the donation. Southern identified commitment to student success as one of its goals in its 2025 strategic plan, defined by student retention, academic progress and degree completion.
