The Right Mix

One of the largest STEM campuses in the country is also the most inventive—bringing people from a range of disciplines together, under one roof, to innovate and create. The Sobrato Campus for Discovery and Innovation is open.

When diverse skills and perspectives come together, innovation happens. It’s an equation powering Silicon Valley. And it’s the foundational concept behind the Sobrato Campus for Discovery and Innovation, which opened in fall 2021. Here, patent law students, engineers, designers, bioethicists, AI creators, artists, and scientists share space—and ideas for a better tomorrow.

Innovation: The thing that happens in dank basements or dark garages, according to Silicon Valley lore. In the Sobrato Campus for Discovery and Innovation, trying, failing, and ultimately creating something new happens in the bright light of rooms with glass walls. 

“You walk into this building, and the labs are fully on display. Student work is being showcased, and research is right out in the open. It’s designed to inspire, to help people collaborate and create,” says Shoba Krishnan, professor of electrical and computer engineering. 

This space is designed to have robotics students inspire civil engineers, and civil engineers inspire artists. One of the largest STEM campuses in the country, SCDI puts complementary fields of study near each other and includes hubs for students from all backgrounds.

The building, which opened in fall 2021, is flexible. Spaces can be converted, equipment—even electrical outlets—are easy to move, because who knows where innovation will take us?

“I want students to feel empowered to make the building theirs,” says Daniel Press, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

“This is a Jesuit university. We’re supposed to do experiential, active service learning. So I want to tell our students: The world has some problems. How fast can you identify a need in society? Here are the resources, here are the skills, here is the mentorship in the labs so that you can go and tackle these problems.”