New Westpointe Center in the works

Salt Lake Community College will soon add a new building for students focused on the engineering field.

Expected to be finished by the end of 2017, the new Westpointe CTE Center will provide essential resources to the more than 28,000 students enrolled in Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses at SLCC.

The building is designed in a way to give students the best experience possible in learning the fields that they are interested in. The program-specific spaces will be built with efficiency in mind.

“The most interesting thing about this building is that it is a combination of what we call ‘high-bay space’,” says Malin Francis, director of planning and design for SLCC. “There’s a part that is two-story height that allows room for the machines for machining, and welding and plastic injection machines on the east side of the building. And on the west side, which will have a long hallway corridor that divides that, it will have all of the classrooms and offices.

“In some of the areas it will have classrooms that will look like they are suspended over the high-bay spaces. For example, you can be in a class and look down on the welding booths. The building is designed so there is no wasted space, and to give the best experience.”

The new center will be located at 2150 West Dauntless Ave. in Salt Lake City, near Salt Lake City International Airport. The location for the building was decided in large part because of the proximity to SLCC’s biggest industry partners.

“The major reason for this is that so many of our industry partners that are associated with the programs we offer are located in that area of the valley,” Francis says. “Boeing is out there, Hexcel is close by as well as other industries. We are expecting that these companies will be more interactive with our programs now that we are closer.”

Francis went on to explain that he expects that the interaction with these large companies will include presentations and hands-on learning experiences with the students, giving students a “look into their specific fields.”

The new center will house has a wide range of programs ranging from traditional programs like welding and truck driving to advanced programs like composites and 3D printing. General education classes will also be available.

During a presentation in February, SLCC President Deneece Huftalin explained that the programs offered at Westpointe are “designated to prepare students to enter the workforce immediately upon completion.”

For more information about the new Westpointe Center, and to find out what programs are offered, visit slcc.edu/westpointe-center.