Merrimack College Opens New Center for Innovation and Research

NORTH ANDOVER, MA — Merrimack College celebrated the opening of its new Center for Innovation and Research in Engineering and Computational Sciences with a ribbon-cutting ceremony last month.

The event, held on Sept. 22, served as a grand opening for the buildings located at 510 and 530 Turnpike St., which were purchased by the school less than six months earlier.

The buildings are expected to serve as a hub of STEM —science, technology, engineering and math — education, and they already house labs, collaborative workspaces and classrooms.

According to the school, The Center for Innovation and Research more than doubles the college's engineering education space and expands the overall campus footprint by over 25,000 square feet.

The school has said that increasing the college's research infrastructure is a key initiative, and doing so will help position Merrimack to attract more students, more research-focused faculty and move the school closer to its goal of becoming a doctoral-granting institution.

"With this facility, we can see the next steps of the college's wonderful journey," said Merrimack College President Christopher E. Hopey. "We can see with more clarity where we are going and where we need to be. This facility represents a transformation of Merrimack's impact on the community and on our ability to grow, to serve our mission and to have a profound impact on the world around us."

More than 150 people attended the opening event for the Center for Innovation and Research, including members of the Merrimack College Board of Trustees, local politicians and State Senators Bruce Tarr, Barry Feingold and Diana DiZoglio.

Following a ribbon-cutting ceremony, Merrimack engineering students led tours of the new facility. Guests even got an opportunity to interact with robots named Pepper and SPOT.