The University of Wisconsin-River Falls invites the community to tour the new Science and Technology Innovation Center (SciTech) at a Grand Opening Celebration March 31 from 4 to 6 p.m. SciTech is located on the UWRF campus at 262 E. Cascade Ave.
SciTech opened to students on Jan. 26 for the first day of spring semester classes. In addition to cutting-edge technology, the new building offers collaborative work and study spaces. Karl Peterson, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said the student response has been outstanding.
“What we’re seeing here now that it’s open is that students are coming here just to hang out and enjoy the fresh spaces that we have,” Peterson said.
Nikki Hoffart, a junior animal science pre-vet major from Edgerton, agreed.
“We have a physics class here that we’re super excited about and then we study here for four-plus hours a day,” Hoffart said.
Claire Vaught, a junior biomedical and health science major from River Falls, said the classroom and lab design has enhanced her learning experience at UWRF.
“We can seamlessly go from lecture learning into the lab work,” Vaught said. “I feel smarter when I’m in here.”
Marta Dezentje, a first year neuroscience major from Minnetonka, Minn., hopes to eventually pursue a Ph.D. and become a neuroscientist. Dezentje said she spends a lot of time studying and socializing in the communal psychology lounge and working in the Neuroscience Lab.
“The amazing lab equipment helps me learn in a more hands-on way,” Dezenje said. “I’ve been working really hard on neuron tracing and 3D reconstruction using the new microscope and camera setup. It is wonderful for me to connect the dots of what I’ve learned in class and then see it in the real world.”
Among the exciting new technologies featured in SciTech are five virtual dissection tables. The tables allow students to simulate dissecting a human body using an image created from thousands of scans from actual cadavers. Students can manipulate the image to see different organs and systems.
“This massively changes our ability to teach anatomy,” said Anatomy and Physiology Professor Tim Lyden. “The level of knowledge and understanding you can get out of this is like working with an actual body, which we have not been able to offer before. It is way beyond what you could get out of diagrams in a book.”
Lyden said working with the virtual dissection tables will give UWRF students a competitive educational edge going forward. Micah Thompson is a junior from Perham, Minn., majoring in biomedical and health sciences with an emphasis in pre-medicine.
“The virtual tables have been amazing,” Thompson said. “The detail on them is very specific and you can see parts of the human body that can’t be replicated with animal dissections. I can take this knowledge and apply it when I am in medical school and beyond into residency. The resource will impact me many years from now and I am very thankful for them.”
SciTech features 32 undergraduate research spaces, 12 instructional labs and flexible student and faculty collaboration spaces. The building is the new home of hands-on learning opportunities in biology, chemistry, physics and psychological sciences at UWRF. It also houses the new University Business Collaboration Center (UBCC), designed to accelerate collaboration and partnerships with businesses in STEM fields and beyond.
For details about the SciTech Grand Opening Celebration and to view a video showing highlights the new facility, visit students.uwrf.edu/umc/scitech-grand-opening.
Photo: UW-River Falls anatomy and physiology students view an image of a human body on a virtual dissection table, one of five such devices in the new Science and Technology Innovation Center (SciTech), which opened for classes in January. The community will be invited to tour the facility during a grand opening celebration March 31 from 4 to 6 p.m.
