New A. James Clark Hall to Innovate in Burgeoning Field

Photo by John T. Consoli

The University of Maryland has opened the doors to expanded leadership in fusing cutting-edge engineering and life-enhancing medical care.

Classes began in January in A. James Clark Hall, the new home for the university’s Fischell Department of Bioengineering and Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices.

The 184,000-square-foot building, made possible by generous gifts from renowned builder A. James Clark ’50 and biomedical pioneer Fischell M.S. ’53, features bioimaging, computational and fabrication labs, flexible classrooms and collaborative student project spaces—all with the goal of improving human health.

“Clark Hall embodies the future of multidisciplinary engineering with human impact,” Darryll J. Pines, dean of the A. James Clark School of Engineering and Farvardin professor of engineering, said at the Nov. 10 ribbon-cutting. “These state-of-the-art facilities will create the next generation of engineers who will advance human health worldwide, transforming millions of lives.”

The equipment and facilities will enhance scholarship and research under way in such areas as targeted drug delivery, pathogen detection, dna and protein sequencing, and mass and optical spectrometry.

Spaces such as the Leidos Innovation Lab, where students will work on research and designs, will strengthen the fastest-growing major on campus, now with more than 400 undergraduates.

And with its proximity to D.C. and an array of tech companies, research institutes and federal labs, Clark Hall is intended to be a hub for public- and private-sector partnerships.

“My father felt the university’s decision to name the School of Engineering after him was the most meaningful honor he would ever receive,” said Courtney Clark Pastrick, board chair of the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation. “I think he would be humbled to have this cornerstone of innovation named in his honor.”