Kokosing Inc. has partnered with Ohio University to provide significant updates to the current construction lab located in room 116 of the Charles R. and Marilyn Y. Stuckey Academic and Research Center.
Kokosing is an Ohio-based construction company and is one of the biggest contractors in the Midwest region.
According to a press release by Ohio University, Kokosing has a long-standing relationship with OU and is known for its experience in industrial manufacturing facilities, transportation infrastructure, power generation and water treatment.
“OHIO approached Kokosing with their vision for the lab based on our shared values and principles, our history and involvement with OHIO, and our track record of partnerships with education programs that focus on the current and future demands of construction,” co-CEO of Kokosing Bryce Burgett wrote in an email.
Before the undergoing advancements, OU’s construction lab was used by all departments in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology and became a makeshift storage unit, according to Associate Professor of Civil Engineering Deborah McAvoy.
The new lab will include a series of experiential learning projects, aimed to immerse students in the Construction Management program into real life on a construction site by mimicking field conditions.
“The sophomores will function as laborers, the juniors will function as foremen on a construction site, and the seniors will function as more of a superintendent on the construction site,” McAvoy said. “Then, as you get to move up through the undergraduate career, you get to experience all three elements of individuals working on a construction site and building a project.”
The students partaking in the lab will engage in other projects in addition to the immersive construction site. The students will be practicing pouring reinforced and non-reinforced concrete slabs, building formwork, placing rebars for footings and foundations and more according to McAvoy.
The exact donation amount given to OU is unknown. However, it is known that Kokosing will be involved in the project by discussing and providing feedback, Burgett wrote in an email.
OU will officially rename the lab to The Kokosing Teaching Laboratory. The exact completion date of the lab is too soon to tell, according to the Special Projects Coordinator for the Russ College of Engineering and Technology Amanda Marrs.
