SDSU opens $90 million science center as research funding surges

San Diego State University on Tuesday opened a new $90 million science and engineering center as part of its push to improve teaching and turn the campus into one of the nation’s top 50 public research schools.

The center will focus on everything from developing wearable health sensors and artificial limbs to upgrading unmanned aerial vehicles and designing better ways to screen for potentially harmful microbes.

SDSU also equipped the center with a 13.5-ton magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine that will enable brain researchers to better understand such things as Alzheimer’s disease, autism and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The campus has been rising in the rankings issued by U.S. News & World Report. But SDSU remains far from the top.

The university, founded as a teacher’s college in 1897, finished in a tie for 99th place in undergraduate engineering in the latest rankings. San Diego State tied for 140th place among national universities — schools that offer undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programs.

The campus has moved up 25 spots in its national university ranking over the past five years.

Sally Roush, San Diego State’s interim president, struck a note of optimism Tuesday, saying, “As we dedicate this new Engineering and Interdisciplinary Sciences Complex, we celebrate the insights and innovations it will inspire. We celebrate a new chapter in university history and what this complex will add to our 120-year tradition of academic excellence and public service.”

The 85,000-square-foot complex will benefit both teaching and research. It’s coming online as San Diego State continues its rise in basic and applied research. The campus obtained $134.3 million in contracts and grants last year, a figure that is roughly $26 million higher than it was three years ago.

San Diego State leads the 23-campus California State University system in research funding, largely because Thomas Day made it a priority when he served as the school’s president from 1978 to 1996.

Many faculty members initially didn’t like the idea because the CSU has historically focused on teaching. But Day’s vision has been carried on by his successors.

Three years ago, SDSU said that it would have to push funding to between $200 million and $250 million to break into the top 50 public research schools. But it would likely have to surpass $300 million to achieve its goal, based on current rankings.

SDSU is also pushing to expand graduate education, where enrollment has been sliding. The campus had 4,063 graduate students in fall 2017, almost 1,300 fewer than it had only eight years ago.

The university’s overall enrollment continues to rebound after it plunged by 6,500 during the recession. The campus started fall 2017 with 34,828 students — about 1,700 fewer than the school’s peak year, 2007, when it had 36,599 students.

Campus officials say the slow growth reflects limited state funding. But its sister school — Cal State Fullerton — has shot past San Diego State in enrollment and now has nearly 40,500 students.

Exterior of the new $90 million Engineering and Interdisciplinary Sciences Complex at SDSU.

(Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune )

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gary.robbins@sduniontribune.com