A New Building for a New Era- The Fred Pirkle Engineering Technology Building

"I want students to contribute to the success of this country and be leaders in the world"-Fred Pirkle

This spring students at Sam Houston State University will be starting classes in the brand new Pirkle Engineering Technology Center. This 53,500 sq. ft building houses multiple commons areas, a courtyard, classrooms for each field of study, a floral design lab, computer labs, museum, all department offices, and an innovation lab, featuring a main classroom area supported by shops, manufacturing spaces, and a laboratory rooms. The entire Agricultural Sciences and Engineering Technologies (ASET) Department has been moved from its former home in the Thomason Building.

*click image above to view more*

Funding for the new building came in the form on the largest donation in the history of the University, a 25 million gift from Mr. Fred Pirkle. Frederick Pirkle, founder of Therm-Omega-Tech, Inc., was an alumnus of Sam Houston. Pirkle graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Arts in 1970 and later a Master's Degree in Industrial Technology in 1974. Pirkle was a wildly successful inventor, patenting more than 20 products since 1982. One of these products is the "BBQ Guru" the first digital temperature control for charcoal grills. Even his diagnosis of Lou Gehrig's Disease in 2011 didn't slow his innovative mind. Pirkle developed multiple products to aid him throughout the disease's progression such as the "No-Bow Shoe Tie," an amplifier for his feeding tube, and multiple variations of a feeding tube. Pirkle died of ALS in 2012 but his legacy lives on in his incredible gift to generations of bearkats.

The money from the Fred Pirkle donation will also go to the Frederick L. Pirkle Scholarship Fund, an endowment fund for scholarships to students, as well as the Frederick L. Pirkle Enrichment Fund, which will be used to provide resources by the department chair and to create internships for students within the engineering technology program at SHSU.

The first classes in the new building were held January 17, 2017. Students are very excited to begin this new era, at Sam Houston State University, and within the Agricultural/Engineering fields.