“The energy floor is the physical center point of what is really a new initiative with our corporate partners, Consumers Energy, to engage first-year engineering students in the engineering residential program outside of the classroom,” said Thomas Wolff, associate dean of the College of Engineering.

Consumers Energy gave more than $175,000 to support the project during the past three years, he said. Consumers Energy plans to bring more speakers to campus and bring employees to the residence hall to talk with students through their involvement with the floor.

“On their side, they’re looking for good talent four years down the road or sooner,” Wolff said. “At the same time, it’s an educational experience where students are going to learn about energy not only in the classroom but from engineers out in the world.”

Consumers Energy President and CEO John Russell, an MSU alumnus, said the company has a vested interest in MSU.

“The fact that new students that are coming through this program and learning in this way … is really a critical component to our long-term success at Consumers Energy,” he said.

Wilson Hall was chosen to host the floor because it is the home of the Engineering Residential Experience, or ERE, a program for first-year engineering students, Wolff said. The new floor has been remodeled to include two televisions, a display cabinet and some furniture, Wolff said.
Work began on the redesign last spring and was completed at the end of the summer.

“We’re really trying to develop an engineering mindset and start developing professionalism and an understanding of what the profession is about early in a student’s career,” Wolff said.

Computer engineering senior Yan Sidronio, who has been with ERE for three years, said the addition of the floor is great for the program.

“Having a company as big as Consumers Energy having a presence here – I find to be a great motivator,” Sidronio said.

The corporate partnership with Consumers Energy has the potential to help the ERE program grow tremendously, he said.

“The company themselves are assisting our program, giving the resources we need to better provide the residents with guest lecturers, more tutors and more events like this,” Sidronio said.
MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said the opening of the floor marks a step forward for the engineering program.

“Part of it is that we would like to educate more engineers,” Simon said. “Part of what’s controlling that are our facilities. What we’re trying to do is produce the best engineers in America though this project.”