Weber State University students, faculty, local contributors and their families gathered for a ribbon cutting ceremony in the forum of the newly unveiled Noorda Engineering, Applied Science and Technology building on Oct. 9.

The new EAST college building is a 159,000-square-foot architectural wonder that will provide a place on campus for future engineers and scientists at WSU to further their academic careers in preparation for their future career paths.

David Ferro, Dean of the college of engineering, applied science and technology, hosted the Noorda building’s ribbon-cutting ceremony and expressed his gratitude to all the parties who made the construction of the building possible. In addition, he commended his fellow faculty and staff at the College of Engineering, Applied Science and Technology for their recent persistence in ensuring that classes continued during the construction of the Noorda building.

Next, contributors and supporters of the Noorda building were invited to speak. The first speaker was Rob Moore, executive chairman of Big-D Construction, the construction company that undertook the task of building the Noorda building.

Moore reflected on the difficulty of taking on such a construction project in the midst of the pandemic, citing difficulties with labor shortages, material prices and delivery costs as obstacles that had to be overcome in the construction of the Noorda building.

“It’s just kind of interesting how people can come together in so many ways when there’s so many obstacles put in front of us,” Moore said.

Scott Nowlin, a chief engineer from BAE systems, represented BAE systems in their status as donors of the Noorda building.

“Weber State has always been completely in with increasing capacity and increasing quality, offering more degrees and wider programs for creating faculty and pushing more students out the door,” Nowlin said.

Several students and alumni also spoke in the ceremony, relating their excitement for what students will accomplish in the future, both academically and within the WSU community, in the newly-unveiled Noorda building.

“With this new building, I believe all Weber state engineering students will be able to accomplish even more, whether it is robotics, fluid dynamics, original studies or cutting-edge computing,” Matthew Finger, WSU senior in electrical engineering, said.

Brad Mortensen, WSU’s president, was the last to speak before the ribbon was cut and expressed his appreciation for the support that the Utah legislature and the Ray and Tye Noorda foundation provided in the construction of the Noorda building.

Additionally, Mortensen expressed his appreciation that WSU has gotten the chance to collaborate with Hill Air Force base and other defense contractors in order to educate students that will go on to contribute to the safety and security of our national community.

“We’re so fortunate at Weber State to be affiliated with Hill Air Force Base and these defense contractors that are doing such good work to help us and our country be safe in the future,” Mortensen said.

Brad Wilson, speaker of the house for the Utah house of representatives, highlighted how buildings like WSU’s Noorda building are essential in continuing Utah’s recent pattern of growth.

“We know that these investments are the types of investments that are gonna last generations,” Wilson said. “It’s really great to see state dollars, and private dollars, go to work building something beautiful like this and it’s a launchpad for the engineers, the computer scientists and the innovators that are going to make Utah the place it’s going to be in a few years and keep it the best place in the country.”