For their senior engineering project, four Union students are designing a space that they hope will have a long-term impact on Union’s campus.
Senior engineering majors Joshua Guthrie, Andrew Tan, Zach Wadley and Shane Caver are working together to design an outdoor patio space and fountain that would, if built, be on the east side of the Miller Tower adjacent to the new library. The group said their dream is for the project to not only count for their engineering degrees, but eventually implemented on campus.
“We’re four senior engineering majors; we’re not four architects,” Guthrie said. “I really see our team as a catalyst to get this [project] started.”
The space, based on the team’s construction documents, consists of u-shaped concrete surrounded by a brick wall, trees and open patio space for picnic tables or benches. The concrete will surround a fountain with steps leading down to it. Guthrie said he wants the space to be “multi-purpose [and] multi-functional…a nice, pleasant place to hang out.”
Tan also said he envisions the space serving a variety of needs and purposes.
“This would be an ideal location where people could hold events, study, teach, meet or simply meditate,” he said. “Also, this area would serve as part of the “Lest We Forget” tradition with metal basins placed around the fountain area that would hold the stones.”
The group is designing the space to be in the geographic center of campus. Currently, that area is a flowerbed surrounding a small fountain. Guthrie said his team wants to keep the fountain, but redesign the rest of the area so it would be more functional and communal, especially since it would be next to the new library.
“We want the space to foster community on Union’s campus,” Guthrie said.
The group recently met with four members of the executive council – Samuel W. “Dub” Oliver, Union University president; Gary Carter, senior vice president for business and financial services; Todd Brady, vice president of university ministries and Bryan Carrier, vice president of student life – who “served as a sounding board for the group,” Guthrie said.
“Members of the executive council are definitely supportive of the proposed project and believe that it will provide an appealing outdoor environment for the Union community,” Carrier said.
However, Carrier said that the feasibility of the project is highly dependent on funding, especially since it is in the initial stages of the planning process. In the meeting, Carter estimated that the project could cost around $750,000 to build.
Though the four seniors are working collaboratively on their project, each has a specific role: Tan is working on designing the pumps and piping, Caver is working on electricity and lighting, Wadley is working on construction design and Guthrie is coordinating the logistics and management of the project. Engineering professors Don Van and Randal Schwindt oversee all of the senior projects and check in on the students weekly. The final construction documents and three-dimensional model are due April 28.
