I got a tweet this morning from UVM. That is where I earned my degrees in physics. The tweet said that there is a webcam feed to watch the Cook Science Building deconstruction. This is where I began my journey into vacuum technology. Below you can see bricks being torn off of the facade facing east towards Mount Mansfield.
On the fourth floor, you see three big empty rooms. That is were I used to teach undergraduate physics labs to young aspiring engineers, scientists and pre-med students. Across the building from the yellow arm on the fourth floor was my vacuum lab where I I had a glass and metal UHV system that was the heart of my thesis research. Off to the right on the fourth floor I can see the window to my office I had as a graduate student. So many memories.
The original idea was to renovate Cook, which was built in 1969. The deconstruction of Cook was priced at $4M, however the old building had a $28M maintenance cost. A new building makes good engineering sense. This is part of a master plan to increase STEM delivery at UVM.
As I look back in time, I could not see myself in my lab thinking about the day that Cook would come down. What I did know was that I was learning skills that I could take out into the work world. I can remember making the decision to dig deeper into vacuum technology as a way to stay connected with science and engineering after graduating…and putting some brass in pocket.