Article published August 25, 2008
SSOE Inc. gives $629,000 in donations, services to University of Toledo
$500,000 of gift will help renovate engineering college’s auditorium
The University of Toledo’s college of engineering soon will get a renovated auditorium, thanks to help from Toledo engineering and architectural firm SSOE Inc.
The company has pledged $629,000 to the university in donations and in-kind services, with $500,000 of that going to the engineering college.
“One of the primary uses is to renovate the meeting room we have to be a state-of-the art seminar room so we can hold more occasions for intellectual engagement,” engineering Dean Nagi Naganathan said.
The remaining $129,000 of SSOE’s support will go to the business and medical colleges, athletics, and Memorial Field House.
The engineering and architectural firm will provide the design services and some of the funding for the renovation of Nitschke Hall’s large seminar room, Mr. Naganathan said.
The new auditorium, which will continue to seat about 120 students, will be redesigned for more collaborative events.
It now has one long row of seats with aisles on either side and the new room would likely have three different zones with more aisles for speakers to engage the group, Mr. Naganathan said.
Such a setting will help encourage a stronger community and business presence at the college as they come to use the renovated auditorium, he said.
Mr. Naganathan said UT has a long-standing relationship with SSOE, which employs more than 150 UT alumni, including almost 80 who are graduates of his college.
Plus, the engineering college requires a year of industry experience for students and SSOE last year employed more than 60 students from UT in co-operative work arrangements.
Tony Damon, president and chief executive officer of SSOE, said the relationship really goes back to the company’s founder, Alfred Samborn, who was a graduate of UT’s engineering college and a professor at the university after he retired from the company.
“It’s an important source of talent for us and really has been the life blood for building SSOE as a business,” Mr. Damon said.
He said the company is glad to be able to help the engineering college make the auditorium a more inviting space and to continue to further SSOE’s relationship with UT.
— Meghan Gilbert
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