Nearly $7 million has been designated to begin the design phase of the Engineering & Neuroscience Project, which includes the renovation of the Engineering & Mathematical Sciences (EMS) Building to include more open, collaborative and student-focused engineering and computer science spaces, particularly on the first through third floors.
The funding was recently approved in the 2025-2027 Wisconsin capital budget.
The full project will involve the relocation of the UWM Planetarium, the demolition of the outdated Physics Building, and the construction of a new shared STEM facility to house additional Engineering and Psychology/Neuroscience facilities.
This design funding will position the campus to advocate for construction funding in the 27-29 state capital budget.
“Now that the UWM Health Sciences Renovation project is approved for construction, the Engineering and Neuroscience project rises as UWM’s top building priority,” said Andy Graettinger, associate dean for research in the College of Engineering & Applied Science.
“When completed, the project will put our college in a position to attract more students and better serve the state’s technologically advanced workforce needs.”
More than 80% of UWM’s graduates remain in Wisconsin to live and work. Graduates of the college are in high demand across Wisconsin and beyond.
Biomedical engineering, including advanced imaging research being performed in the college, will benefit from closer interactions with neuroscience researchers in this new facility.
The design will propose the renovation of teaching laboratories in the first three floors of the EMS building, which was opened in 1970, to be refreshed in the style of the 2023 renovation of the building’s 9th and 10th floor labs, a transformation that came in under budget and with strong community approval.