Robert B. Goergen Hall for Biomedical Engineering and Optics

Dedicated in spring 2007, Goergen Hall is the home of both the Institute of Optics–founded in 1929, it is the nation's first academic program in optics–and Biomedical Engineering–one of the College's newest and fastest growing departments. This 100,000-square-foot building features extensive research facilities, undergraduate and graduate teaching labs, state-of-the-art demonstration and lecture halls, as well as the new Center for Institute Ventures, an initiative to help faculty commercialize their research and discoveries.

Goergen Hall is the first campus building designed with the sustainability standards set by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program in mind. For example, all paneling in the building is milled from bamboo, a renewable source of wood; motion detectors throughout the building work with lighting, energy, and air-handling systems to reduce energy use in unoccupied areas; and outside the building a newly created bioretention basin controls runoff and filters pollutants before they can enter the stormwater system.