Jim and Janet Sinegal Center for Science and Innovation a hub for STEM and a gateway to campus.
Michael J. Quinn, PhD, dean of the College of Science and Engineering, calls it “the interface between the campus and the city.” What began with blueprints and schematics in 2019 is now fully realized with the opening of the Jim and Janet Sinegal Center for Science and Innovation. It is a transformative space that not only houses Biology, Chemistry and Computer Science but also is inclusive of all disciplines across campus. Science students will be working and researching in state-of-the-art labs while across the way a student from the English department may be creating something special in the aptly name makerspace.
The Sinegal Center, located on 12th Avenue, will serve as a convener welcoming students, faculty and staff together with neighborhood partners, STEM thought-leaders and the community-at-large. In addition to the labs, classroom and study rooms and nooks, the center is the new home to student-run radio station KXSU and the Fr. Stephen Sundborg, S.J. Center for Community Engagement.
Here’s a closer look inside—and outside—the Sinegal Center, a place to shape the world’s next generation of leaders.
Photography by Yosef Chaim Kalinko
The Jim and Janet Sinegal Center for Science and Innovation is the new gateway to campus and connection to science and tech, humanities and innovation.
(l-r) President Eduardo Peñalver, Trustee Emeriti Jim Sinegal and President Emeritus Stephen Sundborg, S.J., officially signal the opening of the Sinegal Center at a ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony.
Surrounding the building is the Kubota Garden, complete with lush greenery and benches crafted from native wood.
The Sinegal Center is a mix of the urban and traditional, with lots of metal and wood details, including this stunning staircase that is a focal point of the building.
Artistic touches flourish throughout the center, including this entryway wall that honors the many donors who made the Sinegal Center possible.
The Billodue Makerspace is a place where students from across campus can come together to create works from screen prints to sewn garments, jewelry making to 3D printing.
Biology student Shefali Menezes, ’22, works on a summer research project (on green algae diversity), one of the first in the new high-tech labs.
Art plays an important role in the Sinegal Center. Throughout the building, there is an impressive and eclectic array of art by local and Northwest artists including BIPOC artists, all creating pieces around the theme of science.
An up-close look at one of the works of art in the Sinegal Center.
One of the notable features of the building is the abundance of lighting, inside and outside the building, adding brightness on those signature Northwest gray days and illuminating all the possibilities the center has to offer.
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