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Innovative Programs in Southeast MichiganLawrence Tech Offers Students Impressive OpportunitiesBy Brian Warkoczeski, May 2007
When walking around the Southfield location of
Lawrence Technolgoical University
(LTU), the recently completed A. Alfred Taubman Student Services Center
stands out as an architectural masterpiece at the center of the bustling campus.
With an impressive glass edifice that
sparkles in the afternoon sun and an environmentally-friendly site design that
meets the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) specifications,
the new center is a $13.9 million jewel that offers a one-stop location for all student services.
The new center is among many exciting intitiatives and programs
at LTU that are designed to give students a better learning experience.
LTU Laptop InitiativeWhile access to a computer lab or a lack of available computer resources
may be a problem on some college campuses, students at LTU need not worry about such issues.
When undergraduate students arrive on campus in the fall,
they are issued a specially configured and branded computer laptop, complete with software.
The LTU Laptop Initiative provides every undergraduate student a valuable tool
that he or she can use to learn, analyze, present, and exchange information.
The LTU Laptop Initiative was launched in Fall 2000 and
has proven to be tremendously helpful to students. The LTU Help Desk
offers technical assistance to students and provides on-the-spot repairs if problems occur.
The university provides students wireless access to the Lawrence Tech network and Internet from anywhere on campus.
Combined with a high-speed backbone network connection and Internet2 access provided by Merit Network,
students are able to do computer-intensive projects and research using
a reliable network connection.
The university's vision is to be the premier technology education facility in
Southeast Michigan. With nationally-respected Engineering, Architecture and Design, and Management programs,
LTU introduced four new bio-medical programs last year. The university has also
added four new online degree programs.
According to the U.S. News & World Report "America's Best Colleges 2007" list,
LTU's master's degree programs are among the best in the Midwest. The university offers 20 graduate programs and
four doctoral programs.
Solar DecathlonLawrence Tech strives to provide its students innovative
educational opportunities. In October 2007, LTU will be one of only 20 universities
competing in the U.S. Department of Energy's
Solar Decathlon,
an international competition where students design, build, and operate the a solar-powered house.
Last September, LTU's
Team ALOeTERRA
unveiled their design plans. The goal is to build an 800-square-foot home
that not only supports its own energy needs through solar power but also generates
enough additional power to operate an electric car.
Team ALOeTERRA will build their house on the Lawrence Tech campus and then disassemble, transport, and
reassemble the house as part of the "solar village" exhibition on the National Mall in
Washington, D.C. in October.
The 20 team field also includes Massachussets Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, and universities from Canada,
Germany, Puerto Rico and Spain. Those selected for the competition were awarded $100,000 over two years to
support the Solar Decathlon's research goal of reducing the cost of
solar-powered homes and advancing solar technology.
The teams will be judged in 10 categories:
architecture, market viability, communications about the house, comfort, appliances, hot water,
lighting, efficiency of the battery system and the distance an electric car can travel on the
home's surplus electricity.
More About LTUFounded in 1932, the 5,000-student, private university pioneered evening classes nearly 75 years
ago, and today has a growing number of weekend and online programs.
Lawrence Tech's 125-acre campus is in Southfield, with education centers in Livonia, Clinton
Township, Traverse City, and Petoskey. Lawrence Tech also offers programs with partner universities
in Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Asia.
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