To mark the Spring 2024 opening of the Michigan Tech H-STEM Complex, we asked graduate students for their impressions of the new facility, which brings multiple disciplines under one roof for increased innovation. As you’d expect from these emerging researchers, “collaboration” was the most-used word, along with “state-of-the-art,” “technology,” and “modern.” Here’s what Integrative Physiology majors Oluwatosin I. Oyeniran and Kyle Wehmanen, and Kinesiology major Lily Hart had to say about what the new facility, dedicated at the end of spring semester 2024, means to them.
What are your first impressions of the H-STEM Complex?
OO: The H-STEM complex is a world-class and state-of-the-art educational facility that will provide solutions to societal challenges by consolidating quality teaching and research in engineering and health-related sciences.
KW: The new H-STEM complex is a great addition to the Michigan Tech campus. The design brings a modern feel to the heart of Tech and should help promote Tech’s commitment to education and research.
LH: My first impression of the H-STEM Complex was how spacious the research and teaching labs are.
How will the new facility enable you to become a better researcher?
OO: The H-STEM complex’s unique features such as its discipline-specific shared, flexible, collaborative lab and research spaces will enhance my learning and greatly support my quest to conduct quality and solution-oriented research and sharpen my scientific and technological skills.
KW: The new and expanded space makes research easier and more efficient. More importantly, the new building should foster increased collaboration both within and between multiple departments with optimized lab spaces.
LH: I believe that the new space will allow for collaborations with my peers. Having a communal grad office space has made it easy to not only get to know my peers better, but to get their input and ideas for coursework and research projects.
What’s the number one improvement, from your perspective, of moving your program into the H-STEM Complex?
OO: For me, the major improvement is that, unlike our former location, the H-STEM complex is engineered to allow anyone inside and outside the workspaces to watch and visually experience diverse teams working jointly in shared, flexible, and collective teaching and research spaces. I look forward to maximizing all the opportunities and possibilities that the H-STEM complex will offer toward leading and advancing healthcare breakthroughs, technologies, and solutions for Michigan, the region, and the nation at large.
KW: The new state-of-the-art research spaces and overall inviting atmosphere of the building should promote excitement and energy in the coming years.
LH: The main improvement that I see as a result of the move is the KIP department becoming more integrated into Tech’s community. Moving to the main campus has given us a better presence
About the Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology Department at Michigan Technological University
Tomorrow needs healthy communities. The Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology (KIP) at Michigan Technological University helps to build them. The KIP Department offers undergraduate degrees in exercise science and sports and fitness management. Graduate degree offerings include a PhD in Integrative Physiology as well as a master’s and accelerated master’s degree in Kinesiology.
Housed in the new H-STEM Complex, KIP leads several important health and wellness collaborative research projects across eight different labs. Supercharge your human health skills to meet the demands of an increasingly active and aging society at a flagship public research university powered by science, technology, engineering, and math.
Questions? Contact us at kip@mtu.edu. Follow all the latest happenings on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and the KIP Blog.