Lehigh University announced a $10 million gift to create dedicated space within its historic Packard Laboratory to establish a home for the First-Year Rossin Engineering (FYRE) program, an innovative curriculum for first-year students that has emerged as part of Lehigh’s Inspiring the Future Makers Strategy that empowers students to begin building and engineering on day one.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260317071202/en/

The gift, from David Jackson ’67, Patricia Jackson, Suzanne Jackson, and the Suzanne and David Jackson Foundation, will create the Jackson Laboratory, an open-concept studio designed to immerse engineering students in hands-on problem solving, providing students with 3D printers, laser cutters and other evolving technologies to tackle real-world challenges, from advancing sustainable infrastructure to developing energy storage solutions.

“The Jackson Laboratory will solidify Lehigh as a leader in cultivating critical thinkers and doers, engineers who are best prepared to create, to lead and to succeed,” said Joseph J. Helble ’82, president of Lehigh University.

The FYRE program is currently a pilot involving 34 students that will expand to all first-year students in Lehigh’s P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science by 2028. Unlike a traditional course for first-year engineering students that focuses almost exclusively on math and science courses with some engineering theory, FYRE immediately introduces students to hands-on learning, research and capstone projects. Students will actively engage in solving authentic engineering problems with broad societal relevance, equipping them to meet the demands of today’s workplace.

The Jacksons see FYRE as a way for students to explore creative problem solving, while complementing their digital fluency and Lehigh’s rigorous and pragmatic education. “It’s one thing to learn a calculus theorem, memorize it, and regurgitate it for a quiz,” David Jackson said. “It’s something else altogether to make something or fix something that’s broken.”

A 1967 chemical engineering graduate, David Jackson saw the potential for FYRE to offer students the foundational knowledge, experiences and mindsets needed to succeed as engineers in the 21st century.

The Jackson Laboratory itself will be surrounded by spaces for faculty-student engagement and group presentations, encouraging students to hone their leadership and communication skills.

“FYRE is a complete revamping of what we’ve traditionally done in engineering education both at Lehigh and as a discipline,” said Steve DeWeerth, Lehigh’s Lew and Sherry Hay Dean of Engineering. “The Jackson Laboratory will not only provide a physical space for FYRE students to do engineering, it will also be the place where the wider Lehigh community sees the power of Lehigh Engineering in action.”

Packard Laboratory has been the hub of Lehigh Engineering since 1929. The new space will be as consequential to the college’s history as the original opening of the building nearly a century ago, Provost Nathan Urban said. “This lab will be where students do not just study engineering, it will be the place where they become engineers,” he said.

About Lehigh University

Founded in 1865, Lehigh University is a premier residential research university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. With nearly 8,000 students (~5,900 undergraduates and ~1,900 graduate students) and a distinguished faculty, Lehigh combines the academic rigor of a larger research institution with the close-knit community of a smaller college. Lehigh’s five colleges — Arts and Sciences, Business, Education, Engineering, and Health — offer nationally recognized programs, while the university’s commitment to innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration and experiential learning prepares graduates to lead in an increasingly complex world. Learn more at www.lehigh.edu.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260317071202/en/

“This lab will be where students do not just study engineering, it will be the place where they become engineers." -- Nathan Urban, Lehigh University provost