With the help of a $300 million public-private partnership, UF is transforming the heart of campus into a home and headquarters for the New Engineer. This will be our flagship building: an 84,000 square foot state-of-the-art research and educational environment.
Welcome to the Herbert Wertheim Laboratory for Engineering Excellence!
Make Your Mark
See interior building spaces available for naming, and invest in the future of engineering.
Excellence Rising
Week by Week
When the building is complete, it will have 429 tons (858,000 pounds) of rebar – equivalent to the weight of 4 space shuttles!

The tower crane employed in construction has a total height of 155 feet and 9 inches – approximately the same height as Century Tower!
Investing in People, Places and Programs
Key Building Features:
CLASSROOMS AND TOOLS to facilitate team-based learning, including freshman design labs
Faculty and student COLLISION SPACES to encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration
State of the art BIOTECH LAB to engineer solutions to overcome cancer, cardiovascular and muscular system disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases
PROTOTYPING LABS to enhance hands-on learning and help develop big ideas
GLOBAL TELECONFERENCING LAB to build 21st century communication and networking skills
ROI: Within 5 Years
$4 million additional industry funding for research
$10 million in additional multidisciplinary research funding
Increased number of startups
300 more engineering degrees annually through retention and recruiting
Partners
The Wertheim gift catalyzed a powerful public and private fundraising initiative. The college is tremendously grateful to the Florida legislature for investing in engineering education and research, as well as the following private donors:
- Subroto and Susmita Bagchi
- Bud and Kim Deffebach
- Carlos and Olga del Sol
- Rhonda Holt
- Gary and Suzy Miller
- Doug and Jane Miller
- Dr. Sachio Semmoto
- W. Kelly Smith
- David M. Thomas
- Bill and Lisa Troner