Savannah State University held ribbon-cutting ceremonies for two new science buildings on Wednesday, October 4, 2017.

The proceedings began at 2 p.m. at the new sciences and technology building located on campus on North Tompkins Road. Guests heard selections from SSU’s marching band as well as remarks from Savannah State administration and professors, representatives from the architecture and construction firms, members of the Georgia legislature, University System of Georgia Regent Don Waters, and USG Chancellor Steve Wrigley, Ph.D. After the ribbon cutting, guests were given a tour of the new facility.

The event continued at the new marine sciences building on 2717 Livingston Avenue at 3:30 p.m. In addition to remarks from Savannah State faculty and USG representatives, guests were able to speak with Margaret C. Robinson, Ph.D., dean emerita of the College of Sciences and Technology. Robinson spearheaded the marine sciences program in the 1970s, bringing on new faculty and writing SSU’s first federally funded grant. Today, SSU has both undergraduate and graduate degrees in marine sciences. The afternoon ended with tours of the facility and dock.

The new, two-story, 30,000 square foot building on campus houses engineering technology and chemistry laboratories. Civil engineering technology is gaining labs for surveying, construction materials, solids structures and fluids. Electrical engineering technology will have learning space for digital systems, electronics and power systems.

The marine sciences building provides approximately 17,000 square feet of new space with state of the art amenities, including laboratories for dolphin survey, necropsy, fish ecology, environmental toxicology, ocean acidification, coastal biophysics, instrumentation and more. The acreage also includes deep-water access, which allows marine sciences faculty and students to depart and return at any time, with ship-based research and instruction not dictated by tidal schedules.