Facility made possible thanks to a partnership with The Austin Company

Cleveland State University has opened a new state-of-the-art, hands-on, woodshop within The Dan T. Moore Makerspace at the Washkewicz College of Engineering. The facility, made possible through a collaboration between The Austin Company and CSU will contain teaching space, multiple pieces of woodworking equipment and an advanced Shopbot, a 3-axis CNC machine for fabricating wood, plastic and aluminum. 

In recognition of The Austin Company’s support in making the facility possible, CSU is pleased to announce the new woodshop will be named The Samuel Austin Woodshop (SAW), after company founder, Samuel Austin. The SAW will provide CSU students with maker-based learning opportunities through hands on workshops, industry expertise and student projects. 

“I have been very pleased to work with The Austin Company to create the Samuel Austin Woodshop, a great new resource for our students, faculty and the community. The shop provides students with a unique and interactive way to learn and practice design followed by real-world implementation of their designs. Helping to support CSU’s creation of ‘ready to go’ engineers” said Anette Karlsson, Dean of Cleveland State University’s Washkewicz College of Engineering. “I especially want to thank Brandon Davis of Austin, who speaks to and engages with our students, serves on our College of Engineering Visiting Committee and was critically involved in making this a reality.”

“Our founder, Samuel Austin, was a carpenter by trade and perhaps one of his greatest contributions to our industry was the invention of the integrated design-build project delivery method. He believed that if tradespeople understood how to work the drawing pen and to value design, and that if engineers were trained and practiced in how designs are actually built, that this cross-functional knowledge and collaboration would result in better projects, better facilities, and better manufacturing plants. The SAW at CSU continues that core belief, allowing students to enhance their learning through real world practice,” said Mike Pierce, President of The Austin Company. “Built into our DNA since our foundation, originally just a few miles from CSU back in 1878, has been to give back and support our community, and we are glad to continue to do that with the creation of The SAW at CSU.”