BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh University is announcing a $10 million gift that will establish a permanent home for a pilot engineering program.
The money is coming from alumnus David Jackson (’67), along with Patricia Jackson, Suzanne Jackson, and the Suzanne and David Jackson Foundation. It will be used to create the Jackson Laboratory inside the school’s historic Packard Laboratory, which has served as the hub of Lehigh’s engineering studies since 1929.
“The Jackson Laboratory will solidify Lehigh as a leader in cultivating critical thinkers and doers, engineers who are best prepared to create, to lead and to succeed,” said Lehigh University President Joseph Helble, in a news release.
The lab will be an open-concept studio designed to immerse engineering students in hands-on problem solving. Students will have access to 3D printers, laser cutters and other technologies to tackle real-world challenges, from advancing sustainable infrastructure to developing energy storage solutions, Lehigh said.
In addition, Jackson Laboratory will establish a home for the First-Year Rossin Engineering (FYRE) program, which is currently a pilot program involving 34 students. It will expand to all first-year students in Lehigh’s P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science by 2028.
According to the school, FYRE introduces students to hands-on learning, research and capstone projects, rather than relying exclusively on math and science courses with some engineering theory.
“It’s one thing to learn a calculus theorem, memorize it, and regurgitate it for a quiz,” David Jackson said, in the release. “It’s something else altogether to make something or fix something that’s broken.”