Designing for Student Learning and Collaboration

Building on this foundation, Thomas and Brown Hall is being transformed into a student-centered engineering facility that prioritizes flexibility, collaboration, and innovation. The new facility will be home to the Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and serve as a hub for tutoring, mentoring, leadership development, industry connections, and micro-credential opportunities. The design emphasizes an expanded Student Learning Community with study areas, small group meeting rooms, tutoring zones, and distance-learning capabilities, along with highly visible Aggie Innovation / Makerspaces that highlight hands-on engineering activity.

Structural Design Supporting Applied Research

Structurally, the facility is purpose-built to support both learning and research, featuring general-use classrooms, dedicated ECE labs, plus capstone team rooms and collaboration spaces that mirror real-world engineering environments. The design also incorporates applied-learning elements including a rooftop experiment area and rooftop outdoor classroom/flex space. A standout feature is the steel frame engineered to support a net structure for drone flight experiments, creating a controlled aerial testing environment on the roof, an exciting structural challenge we’re proud to help bring to life.

This is just the beginning, and we’re excited to share progress as Klipsch School of ECE becomes a future-ready hub for engineering. And as a firm with many NMSU alumni, it’s especially rewarding to help shape a facility that will support future Aggie engineers for decades to come.