The University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s College of Engineering has launched a new AI makerspace, supported by private funding and in partnership with Omaha-based Scott Data, providing students with access to advanced computing resources rarely found in higher education.

The facility, part of Kiewit Hall’s Design Hub, includes a dedicated server with eight NVIDIA H100 graphics processing units, considered the gold standard for AI workloads. The makerspace will be one of only a handful of such facilities tied to universities nationwide, and the first in Nebraska.

“The College of Engineering has a long history in research and education in artificial intelligence, and the AI makerspace is the next step in that effort,” said Lance C. Pérez, Fred Hunzeker Dean of Engineering.

Engineering legacy and new ambitions

The College of Engineering has been a leader in Nebraska’s higher education landscape since the mid-1980s, when it first offered a course in artificial intelligence. In the past five years, the college has delivered more than 30 sections of AI classes.

Pérez said the makerspace reflects the college’s belief that students learn best by doing. “Every student will leave the College of Engineering with some exposure and knowledge about AI. Both through formal curriculum and through opportunities like this,” he said. “We want every one of the students in our college, regardless of discipline, to understand how AI fits into the kind of work their discipline does, and be prepared to go out into the workforce being AI-ready.”

To build on that effort, the college also plans to add a chief data scientist with expertise in engineering, AI and startups to help guide research and mentor students.

Scott Data, headquartered in Omaha, is one of about 20 Tier III certified colocation data centers in the country — and the only Tier III data center that provides the AI Cluster GPU-as-a-Service. 

“We are in Nebraska, and we’re on the University of Nebraska campus. I serve on the engineering advisory board for Dean Pérez,” said Ken Moreano, CEO of Scott Data. “We are ahead of the market as a colocation operator, deploying our own AI GPU infrastructure. We’ve built an AI cluster on par with AWS, Google or Oracle, but unlike those providers, we don’t train models or touch the data. We can audit and prove the privacy and security of the data for any organization on our system.”

What the makerspace offers

The AI makerspace is the newest addition to Kiewit Hall’s Design Hub, where engineering students design, build and test projects. Unlike a traditional lab, it functions as a “virtual makerspace,” with students remotely connecting to Scott Data’s servers.

At its core are eight NVIDIA H100 GPUs, processors considered the gold standard for handling the demanding workloads required to train and run AI models. “As far as we know, this is not something typically available in higher education,” Moreano said. “It will accelerate students’ abilities to problem solve, conduct research and increase creativity.”

Students will be able to use the makerspace for independent projects, capstone design work and activities organized through student groups such as Husker AI. Faculty also expect it to spark interdisciplinary collaborations, connecting engineering students with peers in health care, agriculture and business.

“What’s exciting to me is the innovation and creativity young people will demonstrate on the platform,” Moreano said. “It’s not fair to have a preconceived project in mind, because that would introduce bias and limit creativity.”

Pérez added that he expects students to embrace the makerspace well beyond formal assignments. “We really expect students to have very large interests in doing this on their own time for fun, and learning on their own,” he said. “Our students do a lot of that already.”

National context: Following Georgia Tech’s lead

UNL is not the only institution to launch such a space. Georgia Tech created an AI Makerspace in collaboration with NVIDIA in 2024, giving students access to supercomputing resources and curriculum supported by the company’s Deep Learning Institute. College leaders there described it as a “digital sandbox” where undergraduates could experiment with AI in ways previously restricted to research labs.

UNL’s makerspace is smaller in scale — Georgia Tech’s cluster includes 160 NVIDIA H100 GPUs — but unique in its public-private partnership model and its presence in the Midwest. By leveraging Scott Data’s infrastructure, UNL hopes to democratize access for its students while keeping costs manageable.

“We think this model, whether it’s the AI maker space or another version of that type of partnership, will likely grow,” Moreano said. “But Nebraska College of Engineering … is first, which we’ve said should always be first.”

He added that the OPEX, or operational expense, model makes the approach especially appealing. “A university can use what it needs at any given time without having to buy the equipment up front, which is very expensive,” Moreano said. “That approach resonates with a number of institutions, and we’re already in discussions with universities in California and the Southwest. I think this type of makerspace model will likely expand because it gives schools more runway to invest in research and learning.”

Preparing students and the workforce

Both Pérez and Moreano emphasized that the makerspace is not just about technology, but about preparing students for a rapidly changing job market.

“Our primary goal is to expand our educational programs and research to ensure the next generation of the Nebraska workforce in engineering, computing and construction is AI-ready,” Pérez said. “What I really want to see is, in three to five years, us being recognized as a leader in AI and engineering.”

Moreano echoed that vision, pointing to industries that matter to Nebraska. “AI is already transforming health care, agriculture, finance and media,” he said. “The workforce is changing, and the question is: Can we arm the future workforce that’s coming through our university system with knowledge, expertise and context around infrastructure all the way to deployment of use cases and workloads?”

Pérez said ethical considerations will also be central to the makerspace, giving students a chance to think about how AI should be used, not just how it works. “We will use this as a learning opportunity for ethical uses of AI,” he said.

Measuring success

The AI makerspace is still in the beginning phases. But, in the short term, success will be measured by the number of students and faculty who adopt the makerspace and how it becomes integrated into coursework. 

Over time, both leaders said, the goal is to see outcomes such as new research projects, interdisciplinary collaborations and graduates entering the workforce with practical AI skills. Moreano added that access to advanced infrastructure could also help UNL compete for top research grants.

“A measure of success would be adoption and utilization,” Moreano said. “We want to see a large population from the university leveraging and utilizing. If they are active … there will be outcomes that we can look at and identify and be able to measure. But the exposure is the first component of an initial milestone.”

For Pérez, the makerspace represents a continuation of the college’s long trajectory in AI. “We have a 30-year history in AI,” he said. “For us, this is just another evolution, like when the computer came out. We think we’re really well positioned in Nebraska, because of partners like Scott Data, to become that leader.”