GeneralNov 2, 2026University News

New Mechanical Engineering Facilities Call Students to ‘Serve Through Engineering’

To suit the needs of a rapidly growing program, The University of Scranton renovated the fourth floor of Hyland Hall to house student design and research spaces for the Mechanical Engineering Program.
Two people discuss a metal mechanical assembly in a classroom lab, with clamps and rigging in the foreground and a small wheeled robot on a table.
Students and personnel of The University of Scranton's Mechanical Engineering Program demonstrated the program’s new equipment during the Mechanical Engineering Innovation Showcase on Sept. 28 on the fourth floor of Hyland Hall.

By Cassidy Lowman ’27, Student Correspondent

University of Scranton students and faculty in the Mechanical Engineering Program proudly displayed their new facilities earlier this fall at an exhibition in Hyland Hall.

The program hosted a Mechanical Engineering Innovation Showcase on Sept. 28, unveiling the newly renovated student design and research spaces with equipment demonstrations, facility tours and research project displays.

Since its creation in 2020 with only eight students, the Mechanical Engineering Program has more than tripled in size. To keep up with the growing student interest, the program’s facilitates needed to “level up” — literally, as the program expanded into the newly renovated fourth floor of Hyland Hall.

This move occurred at the perfect time, as an additional 28 students joined the Mechanical Engineering Program at the start of the 2026-27 academic year.

  • An image from a slideshow of photographs from the Mechanical Engineering Innovation Showcase held at Hyland Hall.
  • An image from a slideshow of photographs from the Mechanical Engineering Innovation Showcase held at Hyland Hall.
  • An image from a slideshow of photographs from the Mechanical Engineering Innovation Showcase held at Hyland Hall.
  • An image from a slideshow of photographs from the Mechanical Engineering Innovation Showcase held at Hyland Hall.
  • An image from a slideshow of photographs from the Mechanical Engineering Innovation Showcase held at Hyland Hall.

During the fall of 2025, according to Mojib Saei, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Engineering, in an interview with WNEP, the program had outgrown its original location. Because of the number of new students and their projects, as well as recently acquired equipment, the program needed additional space.

Most of the projects completed in the facilities are for local nonprofits or organizations, in addition to academic work. Now, the additional space and equipment will provide the students with more resources to bring about positive change, along with healing, safety, and hope to the community, Rev. Bret Stockdale, S.J., University chaplain, said in his opening blessing.

“We come before you with hearts full of gratitude for the calling to serve through engineering. Grant your students the clarity to see the best solutions, the strength to persevere through challenges, the wisdom to make decisions that are safe, ethical and beneficial, and the courage to innovate with faith and integrity,” Father Stockdale said.


Cassidy Lowman '27, Dauphin, is a communications major with a political science minor at Scranton.

  • An image from a slideshow of photographs from the Mechanical Engineering Innovation Showcase held at Hyland Hall.
  • An image from a slideshow of photographs from the Mechanical Engineering Innovation Showcase held at Hyland Hall.
  • An image from a slideshow of photographs from the Mechanical Engineering Innovation Showcase held at Hyland Hall.
  • An image from a slideshow of photographs from the Mechanical Engineering Innovation Showcase held at Hyland Hall.
  • An image from a slideshow of photographs from the Mechanical Engineering Innovation Showcase held at Hyland Hall.

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