Hundreds of students, faculty, alumni and other well-wishers gathered Friday at Montana State University’s Norm Asbjornson Hall, home of the engineering and honors colleges, to celebrate the newly constructed building with a ceremony and ribbon cutting and to say thank you to the man who made it possible.

MSU alumnus Norm Asbjornson’s 2014 gift of $50 million funded the building's design and construction and inspired other donors to round out the university’s South Campus project at $70 million.

"Your generosity will impact not only current students, but students far into the future," said MSU President Waded Cruzado of Asbjornson. "In turn, those students will have an immeasurable impact on science, technology and enterprise in Montana and the world beyond."

With a growing engineering college and record enrollments at MSU, the building will provide much-needed classroom and lab space, said Brett Gunnink, dean of the Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering.

The 110,000-square-foot building houses 10 classrooms seating 800 students as well as 17 instructional and research labs with a capacity of 430 students and faculty. One interactive lab, named for donor Bill Wurst, will house 3-D printers and other tools for students to turn their ideas into reality.

"That's what I'm most excited about with this building," said Hilary Fabich, who won the Gates Cambridge Scholarship in 2012 while earning her bachelor's in chemical engineering at MSU.

According to Fabich — one of four MSU engineering and honors alumni who have won prestigious scholarships and who spoke at the event — the interactive lab, called a makerspace, resembles the work environment at the high-tech company where she works now. Having such a lab during her time at MSU would have enhanced her education, said Fabich, who earned her doctorate from University of Cambridge.

MSU alumnus and 2017 Rhodes Scholarship winner Josh Carter, who earned bachelor's degrees in mechanical engineering and microbiology, noted that combining the engineering and honors colleges in an open and interactive building would foster the kind of interdisciplinary learning that launched him on his career.

"(The building) will serve as a hub for students to learn and engage with each other and hatch the sorts of ambitious dreams that just might change the world," he said.

Other major financial contributors to MSU's $70 million South Campus development — which includes Norm Asbjornson Hall and the adjacent parking garage — include the estate of Bill Wurst, a 1959 MSU electrical engineering alumnus; the Gianforte Family Foundation; and Tim and Mary Barnard of Barnard Construction.

Also at the event, MSU project manager Sam Des Jardins unveiled a plaque honoring the building as one of only 10 in Montana to becertified LEED Platinum, the U.S. Green Building Council's highest certification. The building includes a solar electric system, solar air-heating and a geothermal system used to heat and cool the space, which will significantly reduce operating costs, according to Gunnink.

A 1960 mechanical engineering graduate from MSU, Asbjornson grew up in the small farm town of Winifred, Montana. After MSU, he worked his way through the heating, ventilation and air conditioning business for 28 years and then founded AAON, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based HVAC manufacturer that is traded on NASDAQ and that had sales of $450 million in 2018.

MSU's total student enrollment has grown every year since 2007, from 12,170 to this year’s record fall enrollment of 16,902. Enrollment in MSU's engineering college has grown from 2,065 in 2008 to 3,889 this past fall.

Project architects for the building are A&E Architects and ZGF Architects, LLP. Martel Construction is the general contractor. Associated Construction Engineering Inc. is the engineering consultant, and Kath Williams + Associates is LEED consultant.