Building Knowledge (Available only in Structural Engineering Special Issue)

The Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory (ITLL) at the University of Colorado provides hands-on engineering lessons for students. Electrical, HVAC, structural, illumination, and communication systems in the building are exposed, giving engineering students the opportunity to study them. In some cases, students can even manipulate systems within the building, such as air flow, for real-life demonstrations of engineering principles. Strain and movement gauges attached to beams, trusses and foundations give students a chance to track the performance of the laboratory’s structural systems, while meteorological gauges monitor daily structural changes in response to wind, temperature and other factors. The purpose of the ITLL is to add a manipulable working model to the usual engineering curriculum of lectures and theory.