I3@USD-Fall 2025

students,” she says. “And then we hope, in theory, it leads to students who can go out into the world and solve problems in more nuanced ways.” As an example of how this might work, Norton cites the potential for collaboration between biomedical engineering — which currently has one supervising faculty member and no designated lab space — and biology, biochemistry and biophysics. “The design of this building has led to conversations about how you bring together biomedical engineering and cellular molecular biology, which have existed separately for a long time,” she says. “They can now come together because people are talking to each other, but also because the biomedical engineering lab is going to be adjacent to the cellular molecular biology lab.” Historically, blurring the boundaries between disciplines has led to some of the most impactful discoveries, Roberts says. But it’s even more vital now due to the emergence and pervasiveness of artificial intelligence. “That is probably the single biggest thing that is threatening jobs and the future of academia. The rapid advent of technology and the progress being made.” Because access to knowledge and information is already so simple, the role of education has to change. “It becomes less about how much I know and memorize and more about what I can do,” he says. The emphasis on hands‑on creating is the aspect of the building’s design that is potentially the most exciting. The building will boast makers' spaces and labs, offering everything from imaging and 3D printers to woodshop, medical device development, environmental exploration and robotics. These are where the best opportunities for collaboration might flourish. “I think they open up some opportunities that we just don’t really understand quite yet,” says Rick Olson, associate

dean at the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering and Kaufmann’s co‑lead on the stakeholder committee. He does have some ideas, based on a look at previous capstone projects that may have benefitted from having access to the new structure. One such idea featured the development of an artificial intelligence-based app that can determine whether a species of beetles found in agricultural imports is safe, or requires further inspection. Another involved the design of a robotic device that can assemble very small medical implants to monitor eye pressure in glaucoma patients. The overlaps between engineering, computer science, plant science and biological science, as just a few examples, underline the advantages of shared space and shared knowledge.

Another case-in-point: “We put the biomedical lab right next to the cellular molecular biology lab. Maybe when you’re looking at coming up with artificial skin, or anything related to that cellular level type of work, the proximity has an impact,” Olson says. It’s impossible to predict what advances the new building will yield, but the excitement and interest the design process has generated suggests a level of imagination that will permeate its atmosphere, leading to the breakthroughs that Darlene Marcos Shiley hopes for. “To me, STEM education in San Diego is a natural,” she said. “Even if it wasn’t for Donald it would still be a natural. I want to know that we made an imprint. And I think the University of San Diego is the way to do it.”

05 IMAGINE•INNOVATE•INSPIRE