“This is part of an effort to engage corporate sponsors with our early engineering students with themes that are relevant in the 21st century,” said Tom Wolff, associate dean for undergraduate studies in the College of Engineering.

Yesterday, the commons was officially dedicated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by administrators and officials from the college as well as GE.

The lobby, which is sponsored by GE’s locomotive and jet engine departments, features video monitors, murals on the wall and information about transportation issues, Wolff said.GE will pay between $150,000-$200,000 over three years for the sponsorship, he said.

“We found interest on the part of GE that aligned very well with one of our themes, (which is) transportation,” Wolff said. “The physical floor will highlight this whole variety of challenges and advances related to rail and air transport.”

The corporate sponsors offer students opportunities such as guest speakers, lectures, tours of the companies’ facilities and help with payment for tutoring and mentoring programs.

Mechanical engineering sophomore Larry Buckner said students have responded positively to the opportunities the corporate partners bring to the residence hall.

“As soon as they figured out Consumers Energy was here, they wanted to know immediately when GE was coming to the third floor,” said Buckner, a peer leader in the ERE program.

Buckner, who lives in Wilson Hall, said students frequently use the Energy Theme Floor and it also has drawn a lot of interest from non-engineering students.

“The benefit is that they get exposure to these corporate people,” Buckner said. “They get the chance to talk to them and network with these important people, maybe submit their résumés.”

GE general manager Brett BeGole, an MSU alumnus, hopes the Transportation Commons will help inspire more students to pursue engineering careers, he said.

“It’s one of my personal goals that we would retain more engineering students early … because there is a very high fallout rate,” BeGole said. “A lot of my staff is older, and we really do see a difference in the thinking of the younger students when they come in.”Satish Udpa, dean of MSU’s College of Engineering, said MSU is breaking ground with the corporate sponsorship initiatives.

“No other university in the country has anything quite like this,” he said. “In fact, other universities are beginning to look at this model and see how they, too, can incorporate such a model into their undergraduate programs.”

Wolff said the college currently is working on securing more corporate sponsors to the ERE program.

“We have proposals out right now to a number of firms,” he said. “We have interest from three or four more corporations.”