Hofstra’s new Science and Innovation Center will provide state-of-the-art facilities and equipment to both medical and engineering students. // Photo courtesy of Matthew Page.

After breaking ground in 2021, Hofstra’s Science and Innovation Center is taking shape prior to its fall 2023 opening. The center is the future home of the Hofstra Northwell School of Nursing and parts of the Fred DeMatteis School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Once opened, the building will provide new state-of-the-art facilities and equipment for students in both schools.

For nursing students, amenities include mock operating rooms, test mannequins and other new labs. For engineering students, features include an expansion to Hofstra’s Big Data Lab, as well as new teaching and research labs for bioengineering students.

One of the more anticipated features of the building is a makerspace that will feature several new pieces of equipment, including a large-scale 3D printer and a ShopBot machine for designing new experiments, enabling students to develop large-scale projects.

“One of the things we are going to be able to do is do things bigger than we have ever been able to do before,” said Richard Puerzer, associate professor and chair of the engineering department.

With the Northwell and DeMatteis Schools sharing the space, department leaders are confident this could lead to collaboration between students in either field.

“Usually when you put people with different interests in the same area, it’s natural for them, spontaneously, to start doing things together,” said Sina Rabbany, dean of the DeMatteis School. “Nurses continuously see what kind of thing is lacking in their care of the patient. Nursing students and robotic engineering students can potentially work on an idea that has a utility in the clinic, and nurses, physicians and patients can benefit from it and students can use our makerspace to potentially build such a product.”

However, students say that school faculty have been fairly quiet on the building’s progress despite the possibilities available.

“My professors haven’t actually said anything about it,” said Matt Ryan, a freshman engineering student, “but I do know that it’s coming soon.”

Despite the subdued leadup to the building’s opening, nursing students are excited for the opportunities it will provide compared to other universities.

“I think that Hofstra’s trying to be very innovative,” said Elianna Andrews, a freshman nursing student. “It will definitely set us apart because we will have more experience using this equipment that no one else has.”

That excitement also applies to engineering students.

“I’d love to make use of the new equipment they might have,” said Divsh Chellani, a junior industrial engineering major.

With the future of engineering and nursing studies at Hofstra right around the corner, the Hofstra community is looking forward to the building’s opening next fall.

“What this new 70,000 square foot facility will enable us to do is increase our landscape and create a lot more facilities available for students to follow their passions outside the classroom,” Rabbany said.