Funding Priority

Spaces that Create Much More than Space

Carolina’s campus is known for its beauty; cited by many as one of the most scenic in all of higher education. We seek to amplify that beauty by intensifying the impact made in each space. In this campaign, we will create buildings and spaces that optimize student success in academics and athletics, providing both students and faculty access to the most advanced environments to realize the potential of their work.

Students and the Educational Experience
    Todd Boyette, right, the director of Morehead Planetarium, explains the workings of one of the interactive exhibits to Mickell Wilson, 10, a student at Perry Harrison Elementary School in Pittsboro, during a class trip to Morehead Planeterium on July 21, 2017, in Chapel Hill. (Johnny Andrews/UNC-Chapel Hill)

    Where Thinkers Become Makers.

    Amazing things can happen for humanity when minds meet, especially when those minds meet at the Murray Hall makerspace. This 3,500-square-foot facility is the central hub of Be a Maker (“BeAM”), a network of makerspaces where the Carolina community comes together to design and build objects for education and entrepreneurship.

    Solutions to scientific and technical challenges often come from unexpected places, so we created places for people to come together, share ideas and be makers. BeAM joins traditional woodworking, metalworking and digital fabrication with today’s emerging technologies to turn ideas into solutions.

    Projects have included nesting units for bees — an endangered building block for our ecosystem — and a telescope. Lessons teach how to operate fundamental tools of the future such as 3-D printers and laser cutters. The makerspaces also build figurative bridges, as people from different departments partner to lend their expertise to different sides of problem-solving; a community inspired to imagine, design and create.

    Dr. Rich Superfine is creating access to makerspaces across campus, creating engaging collaborative spaces for innovation. He’s the Taylor-Williams Distinguished Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

    Explore More Stories

    Sonny Griffith seated at a table in a library in front of a laptop
    Student Support

    Following the Narrative

    A Carolina Covenant Scholar pursues career-enhancing experiences through the Career Accelerator Program.

    Ana Zurita Posas, Scott Hamilton, and Kevin Guskiewicz stand laughing at the Golden LEAF Luncheon
    Student Support

    Supporting North Carolina’s Rural Communities

    Golden LEAF Scholarship increases opportunities for rural North Carolinians

    Bill Starling stands in front of the Kenan-Flagler Business School
    Business

    Honoring a Mentor

    Bill Starling ‘75 honors his mentor and friend Cal Atwood

    Ken Donny-Clark stands in a forest
    Environment

    Hunting for Hemlocks

    A dwindling population of native trees – and how to save them

    Drafted model of the Nursing Education Building
    Health

    Building the Future

    Anonymous gift to UNC School of Nursing supports new facility to expand capacity

    UNC Makerspace staff take part in a RYOBI training
    Sciences

    A Greater Toolkit

    Makerspaces provide a greater range of tools, equipment and possibilities