Lane Innovation Hub to transform entrepreneurial and research opportunities for WVU students

At nearly 9,500-square-feet, the Lane Innovation Hub — established in honor of Ray Lane and his wife, Stephanie, will transform entrepreneurial opportunities for students in the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources and the people of West Virginia.

Story by Olivia Miller, Communications Specialist 

On November 19, the Statler College at West Virginia University will hold a formal dedication to unveil the first full-scale prototyping center on campus. The Lane Innovation Hub offers a complete suite of services and facilities where users can fabricate and build electronic, mechanical and combined devices needed to support their particular activity.

The Lane family has a strong commitment to entrepreneurship and hopes to inspire an entrepreneurial spirit among students and provide them with opportunities to make their dreams a reality.  

The center established by the Lane’s will allow students and researchers alike to work with expert staff members who provide fabrication, design assistance, training, equipment and maintenance to produce a working prototype.

“Technology innovation in the maker environment has been profound — transforming how engineers learn and work,” the Lane’s said. “The Lane Innovation Hub offers vast new opportunities for WVU students and future West Virginia entrepreneurs statewide.”

Housing an extensive list of state-of-the-art equipment, the Lane Innovation Hub will support competitive grant and contract funding to advance high-profile research endeavors at WVU, as well as entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial activities that will stimulate economic diversity in the state.

“The Lane Innovation Hub will be able to dramatically increase accessibility to advanced fabrication technology and expertise for not only our students and faculty, but also to entrepreneurs and businesses across West Virginia,” said Dustin Spayde, director of the Lane Innovation Hub.

The space, located in the Engineering Sciences Building on the Evansdale area of WVU’s Morgantown campus, is comprised of three main workshops dedicated to advanced manufacturing, rapid prototyping and electronic prototyping, with an additional lab area for metal additive manufacturing.

The Lane Innovation Hub has already proved to be a critical asset to the West Virginia community, producing thousands of swabs for COVID-19 testing and personal protective equipment for health care workers throughout the ongoing pandemic.

“The Lane Innovation Hub is a state-of-the-art facility that will continue to transform the innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem for our students and faculty as well as have a significant impact on the community in general,” said Pedro Mago, Glen H. Hiner Dean of the Statler College. “I am extremely grateful to Ray and Stephanie Lane for their continued support of our College. This is another excellent example of Ray and Stephanie Lane's commitment to the Statler College and WVU.”                       

In past years, the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering was dedicated in recognition of the Lane’s extraordinary support of the College and University. Also, the Raymond J. Lane Park at the Erickson Alumni Center was established in his honor and the salon in the Blaney House was named the Stephanie Lane Salon. They have also been supporters of the Susan B. Hardesty Music Scholarship.

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