The Engineering Annex has been extensively renovated and is now known as the McShane Makerspace and Collaboratory. Unveiled on Nov. 14 after a dedication and blessing. the Collaboratory is named after its chief donors, Steve and Kathy McShane.
Steve McShane graduated from the University of Detroit in 1966 with a degree in electrical engineering. He went on to found Midtronics, a company specializing in automotive battery diagnostics and management. The McShanes want the Collaboratory to be “a place where people can create things that will add value to the world,” said Madeline Byrne, communications specialist for the College of Engineering and Science.
The annex’s renovations were made possible by nine donor parties, all of whom have ties to Detroit Mercy.
“Their generosity to our school is … overwhelming,” said Michael Berryman, Director of Development for University Advancement in the College of Engineering and Science. “There’s just so many people that step up.”
Byrne was similarly moved.
“We love our alumni over here,” she said. “They’re very involved, and we really appreciate it.”
[The donors’ names can be found on the picture above/below.]
The College of Engineering and Science (CES) and the School of Architecture and Community Design (SACD) currently share the Collaboratory and its equipment. The Collaboratory will also be the site of some engineering and architecture courses, Byrne said.
The space consists of a ground floor workshop and a mezzanine with tables and seating. This layout makes for a unique, immersive classroom, said Thaddeus Lindsay, machinist and lab manager for the College of Engineering and Science.
“You’re in the actual setting,” Lindsay said. “You’re overlooking all the tools you will use.”
Planning for the project began in 2019, Berryman said. In fall of 2023, renovation commenced.
“The first part of the process was clearing out … decades of stuff that had accumulated,” Berryman said.
Once everything in the annex was relocated or discarded, a number of updates were made. The ventilation system was improved, Lindsay said, as were the space’s aesthetics. According to Berryman, SkyBlade Fan Company gifted the annex new fans.
Major structural renovations also took place.
“There used to be a main level staircase — that was totally broken out,” Byrne said. “There is also now a service elevator.”
After the changes to the annex were made, the Collaboratory was outfitted with new and existing machinery. Now, CES’s manual mill and SACD’s table saw share a workspace. In addition to traditional equipment, Lindsay said that the Collaboratory also has “automated digital fabrication processes.” This latter category includes 3D printers and a CNC mill, router and plasma cutter.
Key among the Collaboratory’s many benefits is the way it brings together “people with different strengths, different creativities,” Berryman said. This is especially notable as, before the space’s existence, CES and SACD seldom interacted. Byrne first visited the Architecture Building only earlier this year, for the SciComm art show.
This separation was not uncommon.
“I worked for architecture for years,” Lindsay said. “I had never been inside the Engineering Building.”
Now, thanks to the shared Collaboratory, the two schools are forming a much closer relationship. According to Byrne, this partnership is “beneficial to not only our students, but even staff and faculty.”
Lindsay expressed similar sentiments.
“I think that’s the biggest thing,” he said. “People coming together, whether it’s intentional … or just people passing through and being like, ‘Oh, that’s pretty cool. What’s your name?’ or ‘What are you working on?’”
