A committee of engineering administrators is seeking student input on the Zachry Engineering Center’s renovation.
At a third and final student town-hall meeting Wednesday, the committee will gather student feedback and run through the design plan for the Engineering Education Complex, which will replace the Zachry building after renovations and hold one third of all engineering classes at A&M.
Peter Imbrie, associate professor and interim director of the Institute for Engineering Education and Innovation, said the forum is a time for students to voice their opinion to the committee.
“The whole purpose of having all of these meetings is to engage the students, like all of the other stakeholders of the facility, in dialogue about the EEC project and seek their input,” Imbrie said. “The fundamental premise of the design process is to listen to what [stakeholders] have to say and then use that information to help the final design.”
 Farid Saemi, aerospace engineering senior and former president of A&M’s chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, said the renovated Zachry building will be at the heart of the engineering college.
“It’s being built as the hub of engineering on campus and essentially what the MSC is to the rest of the campus but for engineering — it’s going to be a big part of the undergraduate program,” Saemi said.
Nick Page, aerospace engineering senior and Student Senate academic affairs chair, said Wednesday’s meeting is important because it ensures students are involved in the process for the new Zachary building and not kept out of the decision-making process.
“A lot of times, things happen in the college, and we find out when we see the tangible result. We don’t find out while it’s in the planning stages. We don’t find out as the decisions are being made,” Page said. “This is one of the times where we are finding out as the decisions are being made.”
Page said even though the construction and updates will not necessarily affect current students in the long run, it’s important for students to attend the meetings, because it encourages the administration to continue trying to meet students halfway.
“I think we need to have a lot of people show up and show we appreciate being kept in the loop and having our voices heard,” Page said. “I think even just by showing up it shows the administration that it’s going to help facilitate more conversations in the future and keep us involved with what’s going before we can see the results of it.”
Saemi attended the previous town hall meeting and said he hopes more students attend Wednesday evening’s meeting to provide their opinion that could influence the construction.
“I hope that students — especially more upper level students — attend and stop the presentation where they see most of the concerns and let the college know what isn’t a good idea or what they should do differently,” Saemi said.
The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Emerging Technologies Building Rm. 1005.