SAN ANTONIO, TX Design plans are underway for a new state of the art academic building on The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Main Campus. The Science and Engineering Building will house classrooms, study spaces, teaching laboratories and research facilities for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The building will be the largest construction project in UTSA history at $95 million.

Currently, a number of UTSA's STEM-related classrooms and teaching laboratories are spread out in buildings across campus. The new building will bring many of them together under one roof, engaging thousands of students from various disciplines in different areas of study. Many of the laboratories will be surrounded in glass so students and visitors walking by can see what's going on.

Another innovative aspect will be the Engineering Maker Space, a 17,000-square-foot area where engineering students can design, test and fabricate their capstone senior design projects. The building will also be home to UTSA's new chemical engineering program and brain health research.

Design plans for the Science and Engineering Building will be finalized by fall 2017. Construction is expected to begin in early 2018. The building should be complete in the summer of 2020, just in time for students to return for the fall 2020 semester.