---
title: UMD Dedicates IDEA Factory
date: 2022-05-10T13:00:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/umd-dedicates-idea-factory"
section: Articles
---
# UMD Dedicates IDEA Factory

*May 10, 2022* — by [Maryland Today Staff](/author/maryland-today-staff)


> Building Designed to Inspire Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Research Across Disciplines

*IDEA Factory Dedication 05102022 SC 3961 1920x1080 — From left, Maryland Engineering Dean Samuel Graham, Jr., university President Darryll J. Pines, Courtney Clark Pastrick and Emilio Fernandez ’69 ceremonially “unlock” the new IDEA Factory at this morning’s dedication ceremony. Below, Fernandez describes the building as an “innovation engine” that will free students’ entrepreneurial spirit and encourage them to be bold and determined in seeking solutions to society’s challenges.*

The University of Maryland this morning dedicated the [E.A. Fernandez IDEA (Innovate, Design and Engineer for America) Factory](https://eng.umd.edu/facilities/idea-factory), a $67 million building designed to foster technology innovations and advances through collaboration across engineering, the arts, business and science. The A. James Clark School of Engineering’s new 60,000-square-foot facility is the only building at UMD funded entirely by private philanthropy.

“The IDEA Factory is a spectacular addition to UMD’s robust and growing innovation ecosystem,” said university President Darryll J. Pines. “Its world-class facilities for education, innovation, research and product development in robotics, quantum, engineering, transportation and manufacturing will be transformative. Inspired by a namesake who brought pioneering ideas to market, our community will conceive ideas, create designs, build prototypes, develop business plans and bring to market products that will spur economic prosperity in the region, state and nation.”

Located next to the Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building, the IDEA Factory features research and student programs and activities including the:

- ALEx Garage: This first-floor space is dedicated to student competition teams such as Terrapin Rockets and Robotics@Maryland, as well as a rapid prototyping lab equipped with 3D printers and other in-demand gear.
- Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center: Lockheed Martin gave $2.5 million to equip the center’s new home on the fourth and fifth floors, where faculty and students will conduct research on rotorcraft aerodynamics, structures and flight mechanics. It also boasts a monorail hoist, a giant, yellow crane-like device that can haul heavy equipment up from the ground.
- Robotics and Autonomy Laboratory: In this third-floor hub for advancing robotics systems, students can work with Spot, a mobile robot from Boston Dynamics, and an unmanned ground vehicle called Husky from Clearpath Robotics.
- Quantum Technology Center: Below grade level with a 3.5-foot-thick concrete floor to isolate delicate experiments from environmental interference, this joint center between the Clark School of Engineering and Department of Physics is where students and researchers focus on translating quantum physics into real-world technologies.
- Startup Shell: Founded in a storage closet in 2012, the popular student business incubator now has a spacious new first-floor home in the Tom & Susan Scholl Center for Student Innovation, where Terps can collaborate and network to scale up student-run startups and take them out to the world.
- Angel P. Bezos ’69 Rapid Prototyping Lab: Equipped with 3D printers and other gear, the lab joins UMD makerspaces.
- Pedro Wasmer '62 Conference Room: This conference room can be divided into two spaces for maximum flexibility for various types of meetings.
- Ortanez Family Terrace: Located on the 2nd-floor, contiguous to IDEA Central, the Ortanez Family Terrace is a meeting point for faculty, staff and students to enjoy the outdoors.
- Randy Ortanez ‘82 Innovation Bridge: This skybridge connects the IDEA Factory to the Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building.
- Robert J. Flanagan Collaboration Corner: This gathering place gives students a space to study and interface in a more casual environment.


*Fernandez speaks at IDEA Factory dedication ceremony*



---



[Youtube Embed related to UMD Dedicates IDEA Factory](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU5CprBJX8g)





**Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community)



**Units:** [A. James Clark School of Engineering](https://today.umd.edu/topic/james-clark-school-engineering)