School of Engineering Dean Linda Abriola said she wants to bring back the Engineering Project and Development Center's (EPDC) woodshop by next semester.
The the Integrated Multi-Phase Environmental Systems Lab (IMPES), is on its way to completion in the former woodshop location.
The IMPES lab -- colloquially known as the water lab -- was part of Abriola's hiring agreement prior to her appointment as the dean of the School of Engineering.
The cost of the lab was factored into Abriola's start-up recruitment package.
Abriola currently travels between Tufts and her current lab at the University of Michigan every three weeks in order to do her research.
The announcement of the woodshop's closure following spring break upset students who had used the woodshop regularly for projects and assignments.
But Abriola said that she had been unaware that the former woodshop was used by students outside of classes.
Abriola has heard about the petition and news of student support for the woodshop, and said that her plan all along was not to totally "eliminate the woodshop, but to relocate it."
Because Abriola thought that the woodshop was primarily used by professors and for classes, she "did not think it would be such a big deal... I didn't announce its closing to them, just to the faculty, as I saw that the woodshop was purely something used for classes."
She hopes have it relocated by next fall semester.
According to Abriola, students have expressed interest about working with the IMPES lab, which she hopes will be completed by mid-May.
"I've had a lot of undergraduates e-mail me, asking if they can work with the lab over the summer, which I definitely plan to do with some of them," she said.
The IMPES lab will be used for evaluating water quality by analyzing water samples for hazardous chemical, organic and metal contamination. "It's going to have a very controlled environment, as it's dangerous to work with chemicals," Abriola said.
Prior to the conceptualization of the water lab, "there really was no dedicated lab for research for civil and environmental engineering," Abriola said.
The IMPES lab will have state-of-the-art equipment, and will hopefully attract faculty to Tufts and encourage collaboration among departments and professional graduate schools, Abriola said.
A computer lab and work stations will be included, as well as a "hot room" for specific chemical analyses and temperature controls.
"The lab won't be used for teaching -- strictly research," Abriola said.
Junior Todd Ryan had created an online petition to get the woodshop back, which has garnered almost 350 signatures.
